Afterlife
by ZombiesXBrainzz
Summary: Three years after the start of the apocalypse the survivors thought they had found safety, but when trouble finds them again they will make the journey back to safety with the help of some unusual friends.
1. Chapter 1

**Ah, hello again friends and fans that may or may not be here. Welcome to my story! The next story! The non L4D storyline story that still has L4D characters! One thing I would like to bring up about this story, if you read the AN is that the story is going to switch between Sophie's POV and like, third person POV and im not sure if it shows up in the story but I used the horizontal lines to indicate a switch, so hopefully it shows up...**

 **Anyway, enough goofing around, read the story and enjoy it!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 1: Broken Memories**

I sat on a tree branch, watching over the top of the walls of the city, I could see the tiny ant people move within, driving their tiny ant cars, but I wasn't close enough to see the very specific activities they were participating in. Small snowflakes fell as I picked at the rabbit meat in my hands, as far as small game goes, rabbit was definitely my favorite, and there was always plenty to go around. A twig snapped down below, "Soph!" My friend Darcy called up to me, "Come with me for a walk!"

"Okay, okay." I tossed the rabbit aside and jumped down. I had been sitting in that same tree for three years, watching the city, always wondering about my family on the inside. Even if I didn't remember much about them, I still cared for their safety. I was a hunter, just like Darcy which was cool in its own sense, we could jump to high places and we were pretty strong. We stayed with our smoker friend Max in a small shack in the woods not too far from the city, other zombies stayed away, we were a strong group together, and that was just the way it was in this world.

* * *

Aria looked out at the snow covered city from the kitchen window of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend Nick. She sighed as she moved a dish from one side of the sink to the other, wondering when Nick was going to be back from work. When they were rescued, the military tried assigning them jobs as best as they could according to skillset, and since Nick was a hardcore criminal, they sent him to work at the local grocery store keeping a close eye on him. Aria was a manager at a restaurant in town, she was fine with it, she always wanted to run a restaurant. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, she wiped the soap off of her hands and answered it. Her friend Gina was there with her three year old daughter Thalia, "Hey Gina, come in." She invited them in.

Gina took her coat off, "I'm not bothering you am I?"

"No, no I was just doing dishes waiting for Nick to get home. Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"That sounds lovely, thank you." Aria walked into the kitchen and made up some hot chocolate.

Gina walked in behind her, "So were you still having that get together?"

"Yeah of course, it would be great to see everyone again you know, I haven't seen Rochelle in a while and I think we all need a break."

"Even Ellis?"

Aria nodded, "Even Ellis." She handed Gina a coffee mug of hot chocolate.

Ellis got back from his work day at the garage, he was tired and didn't feel like making dinner. He wanted to go to bed, but he didn't, Nick was due for a visit soon. Ellis hated the fact that he was being babysat by Nick and Aria, but it's what Sophie wanted, and he couldn't go against her dying wish. Ellis sat on the couch and looked over at the dingy blue Jansport backpack sitting in the corner. It was hers, it stuck with her throughout their entire journey, Aria gave it to him after they were rescued.

 _*_ **Three years ago***

 _Sophia was gone, she was either one of those things or the military put a bullet in her head to stop her from becoming one, Ellis didn't know which he would prefer. Aria was a hot mess too, she had just found her sister only to lose her again. She had Sophia's bag in her hands, "Here..." She handed the bag to Ellis, "Aria... I can't, she was your sister." "Yeah, I've known her longer, I have a lot of memories of her." He took the bag, "Thanks Aria."_

The bag sat untouched for three years, Ellis got up and grabbed it then sat back down. There were small tears in the backpack, probably from being old, he opened it. The first thing he noticed was her book, the Greek mythology one that she loved to read. Ellis ran his hand over the cover and opened it. On the inside cover she wrote her name, ' _Sophia Vanderbilt_ ', Ellis had never seen her handwriting before, he thought it was fitting for her.

He sat the book to the side and looked deeper in the bag, there were still some first aid supplies and some crumpled candy wrappers. Her clothes were bunched up in the bottom, he pulled out a faded pink tank top, a pair of black leggings, and a red and black lace bra, he recognized it instantly. It was the bra she was wearing when they were in the swamp, she was wearing the night he had sex with her, probably the best night of his life.

 _Ellis was kissing Sophia's neck, she seemed to be enjoying it, she was giggling after all. He stopped, "Ellis?" She looked at him with the bluest eyes he had ever seen, "Sophie, are you sure you want to do this?" "Ellis, I'm already naked with you in the shower. I think it's a little late to turn back. Besides, it was your idea anyway." She grinned, "What if something bad happens?" "Like what? I get pregnant? Ellis there is a minute chance of that happening on the first time." She teased, "You're right, you're right. Sorry I'm just nervous." "Don't worry, I am too." She kissed kissed him._

He smiled at the memory and looked back in the bag, the only remaining item was a blue fleece blanket. It was comforting to think of all the good times he had with her, but it also made him sad.

There was a knock at the door, "Ellis, you home?" Nick asked,

"Just a second." He put the items back and put the bag back in the corner, he opened the door, "What do you want Nick?"

"I'm sorry, did I ruin your happy ending?" He smirked,

"No Nick, I just got home."

"Whatever you say, c'mon let's go get some drinks."

"Don't you have to go home to Aria or something?"

"She won't mind, she's the one that makes me come here after work anyway."

"Maybe another time Nick. I have to work in the morning."

"You're no fun. See you tomorrow, you are going to the party tomorrow right?"

"At your place?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, fine, I'll be there." Ellis sighed, "You better show up or I'll beat your ass." Nick left.

Nick drove back to the apartment, it was late at night, he just wanted to relax. Inside the apartment Aria was wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, Nick smiled at how cute she looked. He picked her up and took her into the bedroom, she didn't move a muscle until he sat her on the bed, "Nick...?" She asked, looking up at him,

"You fell asleep on the couch, I was just putting you to bed."

"Shit..." She yawned, "I made food, it's in the fridge."

"Okay, I'll be in bed in a bit."

"Okay." She gave him a tired smile. He kissed her on the forehead and left the room. After he had eaten he headed to bed, as he took of his clothes he noticed a picture laying on the top of the dresser. It was a picture of Aria and Sophie, years before the apocalypse. They both had the same color hair and it was obvious they were sisters, Nick smiled slightly at the picture. He'd never admit it, but he actually had gotten to like Sophie, yeah she had gotten on his nerves, but she was caring and reminded Nick a little of himself. When she was gone, he cried to himself when no one was around, he didn't want to seem weak, especially in front of Aria. With a sigh Nick climbed into bed next to Aria and turned off the light.

* * *

"Something smells..." Darcy said,

"Well, when's the last time we did laundry?" I asked. She looked over at Max, he shrugged, "There you go, we have 3 smelly ass zombies wearing even smellier clothing." I said, walking into the shack.

Darcy walked over to the fireplace and started a fire, the living area lit up revealing our ratty furniture that came with the shack. The nice thing about this place was that it came furnished, the beds may have been old, but they were a place to lay our heads. Max sat on the couch, "We'll have to walk down to the river tomorrow." Darcy said,

"Hopefully it won't be frozen over." I said,

"I'll take care of it if it is."

"What are you going to do? Blow torch it?" I smirked,

"You're a bitch."

"But you still love me." I grinned and went into the bedroom that I claimed as my own.

The next morning I woke up to the sun shining in my face, "Darcy what the hell?!" I looked over to see her holding back the tattered curtains,

"C'mon, we have to do our laundry and shit, just because we look dead doesn't mean we have to smell it." I hissed at her, "Up."

"No."

"Get. Up!"

"Make me!"

"Fine." She grabbed my ankles,

"Darcy Lynn don't you dare."

"Get up and I won't have to."

"It's too early to get up."

"Suit yourself." She pulled me off of the bed, onto the floor,

"Bitch!"

"Shut up and get ready. We got shit to do." She left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is over 4500 words, and as long as 6 pages on my google docs, IT TOOK OVER AN HOUR TO EDIT IT! Ugh, i did not expect it to be this long, i almost wanted to cry... anyway, I dont have much else to say.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 2: Avoid All Contact With Infected Individuals.**

Ellis didn't want to be at the party, but he felt that if he didn't go he wouldn't hear the end of it from Aria and Nick. He sat and talked to Thomas about work, for once Ellis wasn't moping around like he always did. Aria took a sip from her coffee, glancing at Ellis from time to time, "I haven't seen Ellis this lively in years." Gina said to her and Rochelle,

"I know, every time I had seen him he was always mopey and barely said a single word to me." Rochelle said,

"I know how he feels, trust me, but it's time to move on." Aria said, "It was hard for me to do it, but I think of all the good times I had with Soph..."

Gina put a hand on Aria's shoulder, "I think the problem is that Sophie was the only girl that would actually put up with him."

"That and she was pregnant with his child." Rochelle added,

"He may not have had much time to spend with her, but I saw the way they acted around each other, it was like they've been together for years." Aria sighed, "Everyone's different I suppose."

Nick walked into the room, "What are you ladies talking about?"

"Well Nick, we were talking about how our periods are all synced up, it's amazing how women's bodies work." Aria smirked. Rochelle and Gina suppressed a laugh,

"You're disgusting." He opened a bottle of whiskey and poured a couple glasses,

"Well what are you men talking about?" Rochelle inquired,

"Manly things." He grabbed the glasses,

"I'm sure you are." Aria said as he walked out.

Nick went back into the living room and handed the glass to Coach, "Thanks man." Coach said,

"No problem, so how have you been?" Nick asked,

"I ain't complaining, living my life day to day just like everyone else."

"That sounds pretty boring."

"You don't sound like you've done anything exciting in your life since we've been here."

Nick went to protest but stopped himself, "You're right, this place is pretty boring." He took a sip from his drink.

The girls walked out into the room where the guys were, "I think we may have to go." Thomas said to Gina who looked down at their daughter sleeping in his arms,

"Yeah, it's about time to have her nap."

"Thanks for coming over." Aria gave them both a hug as they left. Ellis sat awkwardly on the couch, "You know, you can't spend your whole life sitting in awkward silence." Aria said,

"Says who?" Ellis challenged,

"Me. If I can spend my entire life knowing someone and get over their death then you can get over a girl that you knew for like two months." She knew it sounded harsh the moment the words left her mouth, but it was already said, she couldn't take it back.

The room fell silent, Ellis wanted to yell at Aria, to tell her off, but he didn't. Truth be told she was right, if she could get over Sophia in a matter a few months, why couldn't he get over her after 3 years? Ellis sat up on the couch, "You know what Aria, you're right, I should move on. It's not good for me to hang on to the past."

Nick and Aria were shocked that he agreed. He never agreed with anything they had to say, Aria blinked a few times, "Y-Yeah, I am right, I'm glad you agree with me." She said, hiding her shock.

Rochelle rolled her eyes, "Ellis, sweetie, how about you do whatever makes you comfortable."

Ellis stood up, "I am Ro. I think that I need to move on and stop moping around."

"Good for you Ellis." Ellis said his goodbyes and went back to his apartment.

Aria looked at Nick, "At least I can get one guy to listen to me."

"What? I wasn't listening." Nick smirked,

"I hate you." She rolled her eyes and walked away.

Ellis got back to his apartment feeling better that he was moving on, until he saw Sophia's ring sitting on the kitchen counter, "Who am I kidding." He said to himself, "I can't forget about a girl like you Soph." He picked up the ring. It was a gold class ring with a sapphire in the middle, it had a ' _09_ engraved on the side and an image of pompons underneath, on the other side was an image of ballet slippers.

 _Ellis was awake, keeping watch in the safe room. They were sitting in the tunnel of love which they all thought was pretty weird, he had confessed his feelings for Sophie which she happily accepted, and he didn't think she would. She was asleep next to him, curled up and using her backpack as a pillow. He smiled at her, she looked so innocent, and to him she looked beautiful. She rolled over and kicked Ellis pretty hard in the shin, then let out a groan. Ellis grabbed his leg and moved back, then she kicked him again, "What the hell?" He asked himself, she kicked him again, "Sophie..." He shook her awake, "Wha- Where am I?" She jolted awake, "You were kicking me... Really hard." "I was?" "Yes." "Did it hurt?" "Kind of." She smirked, "Good." "Why is that good?" She shrugged, "It just is. I always kick a guy I like." "So how many guys have you kicked?" "Three, one guy in elementary school, my old boyfriend Michael, and you. I mean, I've kicked guys that I don't like too... I kicked Nick in the balls yesterday." Ellis laughed, "Trust me, if you would know if it wasn't a friendly kick." "Well I'm glad it was friendly." "And I hope that you're the last guy I kick." She smiled, and she wasn't wrong._

A knock on the door interrupted Ellis' thoughts, "Ellis! Shit, open the door!" Nick said urgently.

Ellis opened the door, Aria and Nick were there with their bags packed, "What's going on?"

"We have to get out of here, the infection has reached the city and they're evacuating everyone." Aria said, "You gotta hurry up and pack."

Ellis nodded and went to his room. He had put Sophie's backpack in his room the night before, he was thankful he had kept it because that's the only bag he had to pack stuff. Leaving the other items in he also managed to put some clothes in the bag as well, he grabbed some food from the cabinets in the kitchen and he grabbed the ring from the counter, stuffing it in his pocket, "Let's go." Ellis said, putting on his winter coat.

* * *

"What's the point of washing our clothes if we don't even have any laundry soap?" I asked,

"You always ask that." Darcy said,

"And I'll keep asking it." I retorted,

"Sophieee, can't you just be happy with what we've got for now?"

"No, I wish we were in Florida, I HATE the snow."

"Why, it's not like we can feel the cold anyway."

"I know, I just really hate snow." We were at the top of a hill. Down below was the river where we washed our clothes, and the bridge that cut across the river, "Well, we're here and the river looks like it's frozen over, what's your big plan Ms. McCormick?" I raised an eyebrow,

"Well Ms. Smartass, we are going to figure something out." She headed towards the river, Max and I followed.

* * *

The gang met together at the military evac center at the edge of town, they were taking people out in helicopters, "Shit." Coach said, joining back with the group,

"What is it?" Rochelle asked,

"There isn't enough space for everyone to get saved."

"What are we going to do?!" Aria exclaimed,

"This is some real bullshit." Nick said.

A soldier approached them, "Ma'am, we are going to take you and your child in the helicopter." He said to Gina,

"What about my husband?" She grabbed Thomas' hand,

"Your husband and friends will have to walk to the evac center out in Glenwood Springs."

"Glenwood Springs? That's like a two day walk!" Aria said,

"You'll be sending us to our death sentence." Nick added,

"We will provide you with weapons to aid you on your journey as well as a map." Thomas looked at Gina,

"Go with him honey, I'll be okay, you and Thalia need to get to safety." She nodded.

Thomas kissed Gina and kissed his daughter on the forehead, "I love you both." He said,

"I love you too." Gina said,

"I love you daddy." Thalia said, waving her small hand at Thomas.

He held back tears as he watched them get escorted to the helicopter, Aria put a hand on his shoulder, "They'll be okay." She said.

The group was all handed a map and some guns and ammo for their journey as they were led out of the city and into the woods, "At least we will be okay if we just stick to this main road." Rochelle said,

"This is going to be a long ass walk." Nick said,

"Hey, it'll be just like old times." Aria said,

"For the most part." Ellis said sadly.

The zombies were scarce during the winter time, it was ideal for the survivors that were travelling to the next evac center. The group walked for about 6 hours before they came to a road block, another traffic jam similar to when they went to Whispering Oaks, "Not again." Nick facepalmed,

"Maybe we can cut through the woods." Ellis said,

"Good idea, don't lose track of the highway." Coach said walking off the road. There were plenty of pines in the woods, enough to cover the view of the highway.

The group approached a river, it was frozen, but the ice looked thin, "We can't cross this." Rochelle said, "We have to find a way to cross somewhere."

"Okay, well right now we are heading west right?" Aria said, the others nodded, "So we just need to remember that the if we follow the river south, we will find the highway."

"Alright y'all, let's go find a bridge." The team headed north. They detoured half an hour before they found a bridge, "Look y'all there's a bridge up there." Coach said,

"Thank god." Nick said.

They approached the bridge but stopped when they heard talking on the other side of the bridge, "Are those other survivors?" Thomas asked,

"Let's go see." Aria said walking ahead. She froze in her tracks at the sight that was in front of her.

* * *

"Darcy..." I said,

"Shut up, I can get it!" She jumped up and down on the ice,

"You've been jumping for like 10 minutes, you're not going to break the ice."

"Yes I am, you watch." She stopped jumping and knelt down, "Hiya!" She punched the ice, there was a sick cracking noise, but it wasn't the ice. Darcy yelped and pulled her hand away, Max suppressed a laugh, I didn't, "Oh yeah? If you think you can do it then be my guest." She gestured out to the ice in front of me.

I knelt down, "You know, there's a reason we have claws Darce." I clawed at the ice to weaken it,

"Soph, that's not going to work." I ignored her and kept clawing.

Once I was sure the ice was weak enough I stepped back and jumped on the thin ice. There was a shattering noise and I fell through the ice into the water, I swam back up to the surface, "Ha! Sophie 1, Darcy 0." I smirked and climbed out of the hole,

"Shut the hell up." Her and Max walked over. I tossed my hoodie in the water and swished it around, "You're not even cleaning it properly, no wonder why you have to keep washing it." Darcy said,

"Yeah, it's because we don't have laundry soap." I said, wringing my sweater out over her head,

"What the hell?" I laughed, "You really suck, you know that?"

"I am aware that I suck, yes." I started walking towards the riverbank. I looked down at the snow and smirked, Max noticed this and shook his head as a warning, I laughed evilly as I balled up some snow in my hands and turned to face Darcy.

She was holding up her hoodie to observe if it was clean enough, I whipped the snowball at the back of her head, "Ah!" She reached the back of her head and pulled some snow out of her ponytail, "You bitch!" She lunged at me but I dodged out of the way. She slashed at me, ripping a hole in my tank top,

"Darcy! That was my only top!" I said,

"That's what you get for throwing snow." She smirked,

"It was just a joke."

"And so was that." She said, whipping a snowball at me.

Somewhere within the woods there was a noise, like a twig snapping, and I heard someone talking, "Shit, someone's coming, lets hide." I said and Darcy and I hopped up into a pine tree, Max hid behind a pile of boulders. Down below there was the sound of snow crunching beneath people's feet, a group of people, "Darce, why are there people out here?" I whispered,

"I don't know, this is weird." She whispered back.

The voices got closer, "I'm telling you, I saw them in the river." A female voice said, a familiar female voice,

"I think you're just seeing things honey." Another familiar voice said, this one male.

The group was close, like right below us, "No I swear it was them."

Darcy looked through the branches, "Holy shit. It's them."

"Who?" I whispered,

"Them, our friends, and your sister. C'mon, let's go down there." She said out loud.

I covered her mouth with my hand, "Shh, Darcy I don't think that's a good idea." I felt something wet and slimy on the palm of my hand, "Gross!" I shoved her. She lost her balance and fell, but she dragged me down with her. I landed face down in the snow, "Ow..." I muttered. I heard Darcy get up,

"Well, long time no see huh guys?" she said,

"Darcy?" I heard Aria say,

"Well who else would it be?"

"The Boogeyman... If it were first thing in the morning." I said, lifting my head up and smirking,

"Shut up." She shoved my head back in the snow and held it there. I heard footsteps approach, "Hey Max, look at what the cat dragged in."

"Darcy... Is that my sister pinned down in the snow?" Aria asked,

"Uh..."

"Darcy..." I felt Darcy move off of me, "You can get up now." Darcy said.

I got up, "You didn't have to hold me down in the snow." I said, brushing the snow off my tank top and leggings.

Aria wrapped me in a hug, "I thought they killed you!"

"Do I look dead?" I asked, "Never mind, don't answer that."

"What did you do to your hair?" Nick asked, flipping my hair.

Aria let me go, "I cut it with a pair of scissors I had found." He looked the same as he did before, but a little older, which was kind of hilarious. It was strange, seeing everyone again, it felt like we hadn't seen each other in an eternity. I saw Ellis standing in the back of the group, his hair was growing out the sides of his hat and he was wearing a brown winter coat, he had stubble growing as well but he still looked the same as I remembered him.

The others backed away and it was just me and him, neither of us said anything, but he ran over to me and wrapped me in a hug. I hugged him back, he smelled like a hint of cologne and motor oil, I didn't realize I had missed him this much until I felt his embrace. He sniffled, he was crying, it made me start to cry too. It was as if everything around us didn't matter, I looked at him. He had gotten taller and a little more muscular, and he had the same blue-green eyes, "I-I missed you." I sniffled,

"I missed you too." He smiled at me, the way he always would smile.

I noticed he had a familiar blue bag strapped on his back, "My bag?"

"Huh? Oh... Yeah." He took it off and opened it up, inside were some clothes and wrappers and a book. I grabbed a book and looked at it, "Hey..." I smiled and opened the front cover, my name was written on the inside, "I remember this book..." It was the Greek mythology one I used to always read, though I suppose I didn't have a use for it now,

"Yeah, Aria gave me the bag and I kinda didn't take anything out of it." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

I put the book back and zipped the bag up, "It's okay, I have no use for this stuff anyway." I gave the bag back to him. He put it on then grabbed a bit of my hair,

"I like your hair."

"Thanks... It's more manageable." I took off his hat and ruffled his hair, "I like your hair too." He blushed a little.

* * *

Aria looked at Ellis and her sister together, "I haven't seen Ellis this happy in years." She said,

"How was he?... Without her I mean." Darcy asked,

"He was a mess." Nick said,

"He barely left his apartment and he was always moping around and didn't talk much." Aria added,

"For three years?"

Aria nodded, "We kept an eye on him, Sophie asked me to."

Darcy looked over and saw Sophie ruffle Ellis' hair, "Why are you guys out here anyway?" She asked, turning back to the group, "Why are you guys even out this far from the city? It's almost dark out."

"The infection got into the safe zone somehow, we were ordered to evacuate to Glenwood Springs." Coach said,

"Glenwood Springs? That's like a two day death wish!" Darcy said, Max nodded in agreement,

"Well we don't have much of a choice do we?" Rochelle said,

"Well we have a place you guys could stay the night, it would be better than travelling out in the cold at night. Plus it'll be a bit warmer than having the wind blow on you."

"That would be great." Aria said,

"We should get going then. Sophie get your ass over here!" Darcy shouted.

* * *

Darcy interrupted mine and Ellis' conversation, "Sophie get your ass over here!" I sighed,

"Guess we should probably go over there." Ellis said with a smile,

"I guess we should."

We headed over to the others, "So they told me that they were evacuated from the city because the infection got in." Darcy said,

"'Kay."

"We're going to escort them to Glenwood Springs so they don't die."

"Why are you being sent there?" I asked,

"They told us that was where the nearest military post was." Thomas said,

"Well it's a little late to be travelling, and trust me, the worst zombies like to come out at night."

"Yeah, I told them they could stay at our place, it's better than nothing."

I nodded, "Let's go then." I picked my hoodie up off the ground, "It's out west, about a half hour from here." We started walking west. I stood next to Nick, "So, Nick, did you miss me?" I smirked,

"No, why would I miss you?"

"Admit it, you did."

"No I didn't."

"He totally did, one night I heard him sniffling in bed next to me." Aria laughed.

Nick turned a bright shade of red, "I wasnt crying over her, my allergies were acting up that night."

"Were they?" I teased,

"Yeah Nick, were they?" Aria joined in,

"I hate you both." He muttered,

"Aw, c'mon Nick, you know I love you." Aria said,

"And if you love my sister then you have to love me." I elbowed him,

"I don't remember that being a part of the deal. I wouldn't have had sex with her if I knew."

"I doubt that." Aria said,

"Yeah you're right, I would have either way."

Ellis put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm glad they didn't kill you." He said,

"I'm glad you didn't kill yourself after all these years."

"Did you really think I would?"

"Well I didn't think Aria would keep her promise... She's good at those kinds of things."

"Hey, I kept my promise because I thought they were going to kill you and it was like your last dying wish."

"I appreciate the fact that you did it though."

"You're welcome."

I looked over at Thomas who had been quiet for quite a while, "Hey you." I said with a smile,

"Hey Soph, good to see you again." He smiled,

"Where's Gina?" I asked, "I miss her."

"The military took her and our daughter to the outpost."

"Aww, she had a little girl?!"

"Yeah, we named her Thalia."

"That's a cute name." I smiled, "When you see her again tell her I said Hi and shit... Well don't say that exactly."

He laughed, "I'll be sure to do that, don't worry. I bet she would be happy to hear that you're still alive."

"Yeah, how is your little girl?" "She's great, she's just like Gina, but she's a daddy's girl."

I laughed, "I bet she is." He smiled.

We walked up to the cabin, "It isn't much but it'll keep you warm and safe from the outside." Darcy said as she opened the door. It was dark in the cabin like always, "I'll get the fire going." She said, heading to the fireplace,

"Good, my sweater needs to dry." I said, hanging my hoodie over the mantel,

"Where are we going to fit everyone?" Aria asked,

"Well we can fit two people in a room... Or two people can sleep on the couches. It doesn't matter."

"I call your room." Aria said,

"Fine, but Nick can't be in there."

"Why not?" He asked,

"I don't want you doing shit in my bed."

"We aren't going to do shit in your bed, I just want to go to bed."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked,

"Yes, Nick."

"Damn."

"Maybe next time Nick." I put a hand on his shoulder and smirked.

Everyone was asleep except Ellis and I, we sat in the kitchen and talked by candlelight, "What was it like? Inside the walls of the city?" I asked,

"It was boring. There wasn't much to do but work and live our lives..." He sat back in the chair, it squeaked under the weight. He was just out of the glow of the candle, but he still looked so gorgeous in the lighting. I smiled at him, "What are you smiling at?" He chuckled,

"Nothing, I just like to look at you is all."

"Oh yeah?" He smirked,

"Yeah." I smirked back,

"Well I like to look at you too." He said, "Because I still like you."

"Ellis..."

"What?"

"Do you really like me? Even if I'm a monster?"

He grabbed my hands, "Soph, I don't care if you're a zombie or not. Dead or alive I will always love the girl who would sacrifice her life just to save an idiot like me."

I smiled, "You're not an idiot Ellis." I brushed his hair to the side, "You are the most beautiful and smartest man I had met, and if I recall correctly, you saved my life more times than I saved yours."

"I don't know about that..." I leaned forward and kissed him. Was it weird that I was kissing him? I was a zombie after all, it may have been weird, but at the same time, this was the most human I had felt in years. He backed away, "Was that..."

"Wrong?" I asked,

"It didn't feel wrong."

"I know... I liked it."

"Me too..." He yawned,

"You should get to bed, we are leaving early tomorrow."

"Okay." He got up, "Sophie..."

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." He walked out of the room

I snuck out of the cabin and sat outside on a log and grabbed a stick, doodling random lines in the snow, "Something bothering you?" Someone asked, approaching me from behind.

I turned around and saw Coach walking towards me, I scooted over so he could sit next to me, "What isn't bothering me these days you know." I half laughed,

"I know what you mean girl, the military was foolish to think that place would hold out against the infection, and even more foolish to send us out here on our own."

"Maybe they're trying to thin out the surviving population."

"I don't have a doubt in my mind that that is what they're doing." He looked down at the snow.

The full moon reflected off of the snow, Illuminating the area around us, "I give you props Coach."

"Yeah? Why?"

"I remember Nick telling me once that he thought you would be the first to go in the apocalypse."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, but he was so wrong... You've outlived me by three years." I laughed,

"Hey now, you're not dead yet."

"Not completely."

He elbowed me, "You know, things weren't the same with you gone, everyone just wasn't the same, especially Ellis."

"So I've heard."

"Yeah, that boy missed you like crazy, I thought that kid was annoying when he talked, but he was more annoying when he didn't."

"Did you just come out here to tell me about how annoying you found Ellis?"

"No, I came out here because I couldn't sleep on those old beds you've got."

"Hey now, I'm sorry we don't have luxury feather mattresses like you did in the city."

"Nah those beds were terrible too." He got up, "I guess I should get some sleep, it's going to be a long trip tomorrow." He started walking toward the cabin, "Sophia." He turned around,

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're not dead." He smiled,

"Thanks Coach." I smiled back


	3. Chapter 3

**Look, this chapter is coming early because my grandma isn't doing well and now is probably the only time I can get this up unless I waited until next week, but I didn't want to wait. This chapter was longer than the last and I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed, its 11:30 at night... and I've got a feeling it'll be a long weekend so if there isn't a chapter monday I hope you understand**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 3: Highway to Hell**

I grabbed my hoodie off of the fireplace mantle, the fire had gone out hours before, but it stayed warm inside, "Y'all know how to find the highway from here?" Coach asked,

"Sure, we just have to head south a little ways." Darcy said,

"According to the map if we follow the highway it'll take us into Glennwood Springs." Aria said,

"You know, there are bound to be cars on the highway, I bet we can try and get one running, it would save on time and be a lot less dangerous." I said,

"Good idea Sophie." Rochelle said,

"Thanks, I'm full of them."

"You're also full of hot air too." Darcy smirked,

"Screw you."

"If you two would quit your bitching we can get a move on." Aria said,

"Right, onward to the highway." I said, walking out the door. It was still dark when we were walking, maybe about 5 am-ish, the full moon helped guide us through the woods.

We walked mostly in silence with the exception of our feet crunching through the untouched powder, the others shivered as the wind blew, "Ugh, how are you not cold?" Aria asked,

"I don't know, that's just the way the special infected are, we are generally tougher than commons... that's why you don't see them around in the winter. They freeze, we don't." Darcy said,

"A chance at never being cold? Turn me into a zombie." Aria said,

"Trust me, life as a zombie is not as glamorous as it seems." I said, putting my hood up,

"How so?" Aria challenged,

"You like seeing Nick right? To kiss him every night and tell him that you love him? You don't get that as a zombie, you get to sit and worry if everyone you ever loved is still alive or if they even remember you." I said. I hated being a zombie in all honesty, it was a lonely life, even with Darcy and Max around I still longed to have my human life back, even if I couldn't remember everything about it. Aria nodded in understanding and shivered in the cold, "Here." I took my hoodie off and handed it to her,

"Soph are you sure?"

"Yeah, you could use it more than I could... I'm gonna need it back eventually though." She took it, touching my hand in the process. The moment her hand touched mine the strangest thing happened...

" _What are you going to do about it? Are you going to cry?" Danielle Foster asked in a taunting tone. She was on one of her bullying tyrades again and Darcy and I were the victims this time. It was the sixth grade, the second week of the school year and we were already off to a bad start. Darcy was pinned down by two of Danielle's friends, she was withering about trying to escape, meanwhile Danielle had my arm twisted behind my back, my face smushed against the tile floor and my braces were cutting into my cheeks. Danielle laughed, "Girls look she's crying like a little baby." I actually wasn't crying, I just couldn't breathe because I had 200 pounds of dumb bitch pinning me to the floor. No teachers came around because it was after school and teachers were all gone, which really sucked. She pulled my head back by the ponytail, "I'm going to enjoy beating the hell out of you." She slammed my head on the tile. I felt a sharp pain in my face, everything hurt, it was awful. I heard someone walk up behind us, "Hey, bitch!" "Wha-" I heard someone punch Danielle behind me, her weight was lifted off of my body, "What the hell?" Danielle exclaimed. I rolled over and saw Aria punching the living daylights out of Danielle, Aria may have been a high schooler, but it was justified because Danielle was definitely not a middle schooler. Aria was kicking Danielle while she was down, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Danielle's friends got off of Darcy and went to attack my sister. Darcy crawled over to me, "You okay?" She asked, "Yeah... I think my nose is broken though..." I put my hand to my face to stop the blood from spilling more on the floor. Aria managed to chase them away, "You better think twice before you mess with my sister again you stupid bitches!" She walked over to us, "Shit, you okay Sophie?" She knelt down next to me. I noticed she was still in her volleyball uniform, she had just gotten out of practice, "I think I'm okay." I said, as she helped me up, "You sure? You have a waterfall of blood coming from your nose. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up in the bathroom and go home." We headed to the bathroom_

 _On the car ride home I had tampons shoved up my nose and my face was all bruised, "I'm sure mom can fix your nose back into place, she is a nurse after all..." Aria said, not taking her eyes off the road, "Yeah... thanks for helping me out, my face probably would have looked like mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving if you hadn't shown up." Yeah, that girl has some issues." "You're telling me." As much as I happened to shit talk Aria, she still had my back, she never let me down when I needed her most._

"Woah..." I said, pulling my hand away,

"What?" Aria asked, putting the hoodie on,

"Uh... It's nothing." I stepped back. On the walk to the highway I couldn't stop thinking about that memory, how it came to me and it was something I didn't recall before, but I remember it so clearly.

Ahead of us was a hill that lead up to a guard rail, "There it is." Darcy said. We climbed up over the rail onto the pavement, there were miscellaneous cars about but nothing we couldn't navigate through,

"Let's wait until we get to a relatively clear part of the highway before we get ourselves a ride." Coach said. As we walked down the highway the sun started to rise over the horizon behind us, but the whole sky was glowing a brilliant orange color, a color I never took time to appreciate in my zombie lifetime.

Ellis was looking up at it too, "Ain't it pretty?" I said,

"Yeah, I guess I never noticed it before while I was in the city, it was all buildings and military, too much to appreciate the small things I suppose." He sighed,

"I know you don't remember much Soph, but do you remember when we would go to the vacation home down in Cocoa Beach and every morning the sunrise over the beach was so beautiful?" Aria asked. I tried to remember what she was talking about, I did remember a little bit of the vacation home our parents owned, but they weren't full memories, just fractals of what used to be. I just nodded in agreement so she wouldn't feel too bad.

The sun was higher in the sky now, it was about 10 am judging by the position of where the sun was. I was squinting in the sunlight, the reflection of the sun off of the snow was irritating my sensitive eyes, "Aria, I'm going to need my sweater back. I can't see anything."

"Okay, sorry." She took it off and handed it back to me.

I put it on and pulled the hood over my head so it helped block the sun, "Thanks, that's a lot better."

"You know, out of all the hunters I've seen, you're definitely the most adorable." Aria smirked,

"Aww thank you."

"I don't know, there was a hunter we ran into once that was pretty darn adorable." Darcy said,

"Yeah, her name was Jazlynn. She was only fifteen but she was on her way to California to find her mom and brother. It was sad because her dad was the one who changed her into a zombie, and she killed him. I don't know what happened to her but she seemed like she managed on her own."

"What did she look like?" Aria asked,

"She had almost white hair and like, porcelain skin. You almost wouldn't think she was a hunter." Darcy said,

"Did you run into any others like you?" Nick asked,

"Sure, we've seen them from time to time, it's the ones that can't control themselves that we had to watch out for, the ones that are zombies, and not carriers."

"Sounds awful." Aria said,

"We did what we had to to survive." Darcy said.

We walked for another hour or two before we approached a sign, "Georgetown next exit." I said,

"We could use a break for a bit, get something to eat." Coach said,

"Sounds good." Thomas agreed.

Ellis sighed, "What's the matter babe?" I asked,

"Nothing, just a little tired is all."

"Sorry our beds weren't that comfortable."

"It's okay, I'm just thankful you guys gave us a place to sleep." He smiled at me, I smiled back.

We approached the exit where the town was, "Looks like it's pretty clear past the town." Rochelle said, "Let's see if we can find a car large enough to carry all of us." She led us down the ramp.

There was a gas station just past the ramp, behind it was a small store, "You guys check the gas station for anything useful, Darce and I can check the store." I said,

"Be careful." Thomas said. I nodded and Darcy followed me to the store.

I broke down the barricade on the doors and walked in, the bell on the top making a noise as we entered, Darcy and I looked at it, "Hopefully there aren't any commons in here." She said,

"We don't have to worry, we're already zombies." I said, continuing in past the registers. Darcy and I split up to different parts of the store, the aisles were bare, despite being barricaded this store was pretty picked over. I walked into the meat department, there were leftover packages of rotten hamburger and chicken laying in the freezers, it was unappetizing even to me. I suppressed some vomit and walked past it, noticing a back door at the end of the aisle, "Darce! I'm gonna check this back room!" I called to her,

"Okay!" She called back.

The door was locked but I didn't let that stop me, I kicked it open. Inside was a metal desk with a computer on top and a chair that was knocked over. There was a coffee maker on the counter, I used to love coffee, I remember that much, Darcy and I used to go to the cafe in town together all the time. I stepped into the office just to see if I was missing anything, which I wasn't, other than a door that was open and lead to the outside.

With a shrug I turned to leave the room when something grabbed me, I turned and went to claw them but they caught my hand, "Who are you?" He asked skeptically. He was a hunter too, I could tell by his looks and his body structure, he pulled my hood off and his expression softened when he looked at me, "Oh, I'm sorry miss. I didn't mean to grab you." He let me go, but didn't take his eyes off of me, "I've been looking for the zombie that killed my family, they owned this store here and I protected them when I became a monster... but I did a horrible job of it because they were killed anyway." He pulled off his hood, "My name is Javier." He held out his hand, but I found myself still staring at him.

The man was gorgeous, he had dark brown hair that he had brushed off to the side of his face, he had a masculine jawline and I noticed he had some stubble on his face as if he hadn't shaved since he changed. I was falling for him, I could feel it, but I couldn't hurt Ellis like that not after I had just found him again. I shook his hand, "Uh... Sophia... or Sophie... Whichever is fine with me."

"You know, I don't think I've seen a beautiful zombie like you around before Sophia, whereabouts are you from?"

"I used to be from Florida, but I came to Denver after I was changed and I'm trying to get my family to safety."

He put his hand under my chin and tilted my head up, "I appreciate a woman who cares for her family's safety after changing, I think it's pretty attractive." He was charming me, I could tell... But why? I was feeling emotions I hadn't felt before, feelings that even Ellis couldn't make me feel.

I had to keep Ellis in mind, I couldn't hurt him, "Uh... yeah my boyfriend and my sister are a part of the group, along with some friends, and the military are basically sending them on a death mission." I stepped back.

Javier's expression changed when I mentioned a boyfriend, "Ah, I have seen people walking past here on their way to Glennwood Springs... Though not many have made it far."

"Did you kill them?!"

"Heavens no, I didn't, but I've seen the other zombies who have, the ones that have no self control like we do."

"That's what I'm afraid of..." I said.

He shoved his hands in his pocket, "Do you need help getting your friends to safety?"

"Well... I don't know, we already have three of us helping to get them along... and I don't know if they'll trust another coming into the group."

"You have other infected?"

"Yeah, my friends Darcy and Max."

"Soph! Your bitchass better not have left me!" I heard Darcy called out,

"Speak of the devil..."

Darcy walked in, "Who the hell is this?"

"Darcy this is Javier. He was holding out in the store with his family."

"Where are they now?"

"They were killed, I've been trying to find the zombie that killed them but they're probably dead now."

"Oh... I see."

"He wanted to know if he could help us escort the others to safety."

"I don't know, we just met and I don't know if they'll trust you..."

"Right, yeah... sorry."

"Soph, we should go." Darcy said,

"Yeah, it was nice to meet you Javier." I shook his hand,

"Nice to meet you too." He smiled at me, I smiled back.

We walked out of the store, "You were falling for him, weren't you?"

"No, why would I be falling for him? I still love Ellis, I will always love Ellis."

"Yeah, but Ellis isn't going to be around forever, and I mean, don't you think it would be a little weird that Ellis would be having sex with a zombie?"

"Shut up, it doesn't matter."

"I'm just saying."

"Stop talking... please."

"Okay, okay."

We walked into the store where the others were hanging out and eating some food, "Where's Ellis?" I asked,

"He had to use the bathroom." Aria said, I nodded and walked into the bathroom.

Ellis was standing at the urinal, "Oh, shit Soph what the hell are you doing in here?" He asked, startled,

"There aren't any rules about girls going into the men's bathroom anymore Ellis, and I may not remember much but I'll always remember the first dick I've seen." He finished and flushed, "Running water?"

"Yeah, it may not have electricity but it still has running water." He walked over to the sink and washed his hands then grabbed his flashlight and walked over to me, "How much about me do you remember?"

"Hmm, maybe I need you to jog my memory." I grabbed his hand,

"Soph... I don't think that-"

"C'mon, just a quickie? No one has to know."

He smirked, "You're pretty convincing." He said, kissing me.

* * *

Darcy sat on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth as the others ate their food, Max walked over next to her, she gave him a small smile and he smiled back. Aria threw her garbage in the bin, "I don't think it takes 10 minutes for someone to take a piss." She said, wiping her hands on her pants,

"I mean, at least Ellis is getting laid." Nick said, "The first time in three years."

"You guys don't find it weird that he's having sex with a zombie?" Darcy asked,

"Look, Darcy, we can't complain about what Ellis is having sex with, if he's relatively happy then we are happy." Aria said,

"Besides it get's him to shut up." Nick added.

Darcy shrugged, she liked the other guy they had met, not that Ellis was a bad but that other guy was checking Sophie out, and Darcy knew it. Aria walked over to Darcy, "Did you guys find anything in the store?"

"No, it was pretty picked over... Unless you guys wanted some rotten meat."

"Ew, no thanks."

Nick walked over and grabbed Aria's hand, "As soon as they get done in there we should probably get a car and go."

"I noticed that the pumps were still on, if we can get a car we can fill it up and get the hell out of here." Coach said,

"Sounds good to me." Rochelle said.

Rochelle, Coach and Thomas left to look for a car. Darcy offered to go with them, but they declined, "We'll be okay on our own, we aren't going too far." Coach said,

"Okay..." Darcy said.

Once everyone was gone Aria spoke up, "How much is Soph able to remember?"

Darcy shrugged, "I don't know exactly, she remembers stuff mostly about Ellis, all the tiny minute details, things that I would probably not have remembered."

"Does she remember what happened to her?"

"No, I didn't tell her about the baby or anything."

"Why?" Nick asked,

"I didn't want her to freak out, she wasn't stable at first, she would talk about how she wanted to end it, permanently. I would talk her out of it, and finally after a few months she just accepted what she was."

"That's sad." Aria said.

Darcy nodded, "She's better now, acting better anyway."

"I'm sure knowing that Ellis is okay is comforting to her."

"Yeah." Darcy hopped off of the counter.

* * *

I kissed Ellis, "We should... get back to the others." I said,

"I don't know if I want to." Ellis said,

"You just want to lay here on the dirty bathroom floor for the rest of your life?"

"If it means I can be with you then sure." I could see him smirk in the dim glow of the flashlight.

I brushed his hair back, "I can't let that happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you too much..."

"I love you too Sophia." When he said my name it gave me chills. This was the most human I had felt in years, he was the greatest thing I had in a while. I almost didn't want to take him to safety, I wanted to keep him for myself. He smiled at me, "What are you staring at?"

"I didn't realize I was staring."

He reached over my head and grabbed my shirt, "We better go." He said, handing it to me.

I pouted, "Okay, okay." He got up and grabbed his shirt off of the floor. Under the door through the crack I could see some shadows moving on the other side, "Ellis look..." I whispered and grabbed his shoulder and pointed to the door, "Looks like we have an audience."

"Ah shit, they're listening in?"

I nodded, "Follow my lead."

"What are you doing?"

I made a moaning noise, "Oh Ellis I love it when you touch me like that." I moaned again. Ellis' face turned a bright shade of red, "Say something." I whispered,

"Oh uh... Oh yeah Soph you like it when I put it in there?" I covered my mouth with my hand to hold back a laugh,

"I told you they were still going at it." I heard Nick say from the other side of the door,

"Eww, how long can those two go at it? We don't even go at it for this long..." Aria said,

"Three years of sexual frustration is being let loose in there."

"Will you two shut the hell up?!" I said,

"Uh oh, we're cockblocking... better get out of here Nick." I saw their shadows disappear.

After we got dressed I picked his hat up off of the floor, "Here." I put it on his head backwards. A tuft of his hair was sticking out of the hole, "That's a good look on you." I laughed and flicked the bit of hair,

"Ha ha, very funny." He said turning the hat around, I pulled my hood up,

"Let's go then." I opened the door

The others were outside, "Thomas found us a ride." Darcy said, filling us in.

Rochelle was filling up a van with gas, "Nice, it will definitely save you guys some hours on this trip."

"Alright guys, we're all filled up, let's go." We all filed in the van.

I sat in the front bench with Ellis, Nick and Aria sat in the second bench. Thomas, Darcy, and Max sat in the back and Rochelle was in the passenger seat with Coach driving. He turned the key in the ignition, the engine sputtered for a few seconds then revved to life, "Alright we're heading out of here!" Coach said pulling out of the gas station.

Not much was said throughout the journey, we were tired... Some of us more than others. Ellis had his head laying in my lap, he had fallen asleep not long into the journey, Aria and Rochelle had fallen asleep as well. In the rear view mirror I noticed Nick was brushing some hair out of Aria's face, he put his arm around her and leaned his head against hers. Nick always tried to put on a tough guy act, but he cared about Aria, he was always soft around her... Well, not completely soft. Ellis' eyes fluttered open, "Mmm... Are we there yet?" He stretched,

"Not yet." I smiled at him. I looked out the window and noticed on the side of the road a hunter had someone pinned down, the person was dead, but the sight made me sick... No, hungry. I had to eat soon, I didn't want to imagine what would happen if I got too hungry.

I shook the thought out of my head, "You okay?" Ellis asked, sitting up,

"Yeah, of course." I smiled at him, "I was just thinking about something."

"Man, I'm exhausted, I hope we get there soon."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Coach said.

I leaned forward and looked out the windshield, the road ahead of us was blocked again with cars, "What the hell?" Ellis asked,

"Where are we supposed to go now?" Aria asked, now awake,

"We'll have to stop for the night and figure something out tomorrow." Coach said, taking an exit into a town named Eagle,

"This sucks." Nick said,

"Well at least we can rest for a bit." Aria said as we pulled up to a hotel.

We walked into the lobby, "You guys have a reservation?" I asked, grabbing some room keys from behind the desk,

"Let's not wander off too far in case there's trouble." Rochelle said,

"You got it." I said, handing a room key to Ellis. We all stayed on the same floor but our rooms were spread out, we were lucky enough that there were only a few commons to kill in the hallways, "At least this hotel isn't on fire." I said to Ellis as he opened the door,

"Yeah, that's a major plus." We walked in the room. The room was painted a pale yellow color with this awful looking green carpeting, a desk and chair sat in the corner and the television and dresser were next to it. A queen sized bed sat opposite of the television, the bathroom was to the right of the entrance, and the closet to the left.

I jumped on the bed, it was stiff and uncomfortable, but still better than the beds in the cabin, "Oof... These beds are as hard as boards..." I said, sitting up.

Ellis sat next to me, "They aren't that bad, I think they're pretty comfortable." He bounced up and down for a second.

I walked over to the window and opened the curtains, "Check it out, we have a great view of the vehicle blocked highway."

He walked up next to me to take a look, "Oh yeah, what a great view." I walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the van below, "At least the evening sky is beautiful." Ellis said, joining me. The sky was an orange-yellow color, the balcony was facing the east so we couldn't see the sun setting behind the hotel building,

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." I agreed.

Ellis wrapped his arm around my waist, "Soph...?"

"Yeah Ellis?"

"Do you think things will ever be... Normal?" I looked up at him. In the glow of the sunset his eyes were so vibrant, it made me want to feel like I wanted to be alive again.

I wanted to feel the cold temperature and to live a long happy life with Ellis, it was the only thing I ever wanted, "Maybe one day Ellis, it's a possibility."

He brushed some hair behind my ear, "I don't want to go with the military again Soph."

"Ellis..." I sighed, "You have to, it's not safe for you to be out here, and I couldn't bear living on this earth without you."

"That's what I felt living in that city, I didn't know you were alive out here, but I couldn't bear living without you."

"Ellis, I can't go with you to the next outpost, they'll shoot me on sight."

"I just want to be with you is all..." He looked like he was about to say something else, but didn't,

"You okay?"

"Yeah... I'm fine, it's nothing." He walked back inside, leaving me on the balcony.

I turned and watched Ellis sit on the bed, suddenly it clicked, I knew what Ellis wanted to say, what he wanted from me, "Ellis, you don't understand it's like becoming a monster like me. I want more than anything to spend my life with you, but not this life, not as... as a freak!" I could feel myself start to cry. This was the first time in a long long time I had ever cried, I didn't think I could cry anymore, "I would rather live the rest of my life being happy that you are safe and away from me than live in fear that I couldn't save you from becoming like me!" He wasn't saying anything, he wouldn't even look at me. I growled, a low low growl that I had never heard emanate from my body before, followed by a scream that I had never heard coming from me, but I heard it from other hunters many times. The sound scared Ellis, it scared me too, "Ellis I..." I stepped back, "I gotta get out of here." I jumped off of the balcony and ran away from the hotel.


	4. Chapter 4

**I decided that I would post a chapter today, my grandma ended passing this last weekend and so friday's chapter will either be late or on saturday due to the funeral, I don't have much else to say, im tired...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 4: Strange Feelings**

"Nick, stop!" Aria giggled as Nick tickled her,

"No, I just found out you're ticklish, I have to use this to my advantage." He grabbed her foot,

"I will kick you." She started thrashing her legs trying to kick him.

They were interrupted by a hunter's scream and Ellis also screaming, "Oh no." Nick and Aria got up and quickly grabbed their weapons, rushing into the hallway. They walked up to Sophia and Ellis' room, "Ellis, Soph, are you two okay?" Nick asked, there was no response,

"Ellis! Open the door!" Aria said, still no answer.

The others rushed into the hallway, "What's going on?" Rochelle asked,

"I don't know. We just heard a scream and Ellis won't open the door." Aria said. Nick kicked open the door and they charged in, Ellis was sitting on the floor with a terrified expression on his face, "Ellis where the hell is Sophie?" Aria asked,

"I-I-I don't know, s-she got upset and just left." He said, getting up,

"Left? Where'd she go?" Darcy asked,

"She didn't say, she just left."

Darcy walked over to the balcony, "Ah shit..." She didn't see Sophie anywhere in the parking lot, "I'm going to go find her, Max can you stay here... please?" Max nodded. Darcy hopped off of the balcony and went to find her friend,

Aria looked at the others, "Mind if I talk to Ellis for a minute... Alone?" The others nodded and left the room, Nick closed the door behind him on the way out. Aria sat next to Ellis on the bed, "You brought it up, didn't you?"

"Not really, she figured it out on her own somehow, I don't know how."

"Look Ellis, Soph isn't happy the way she is, Darcy had told me that she was very... Very emotional about it, she cares about you too much to want you to turn into what she had become..." Ellis told Aria about what he wanted Sophia to do to him when Darcy and Sophie were in the store. Aria knew Soph wouldn't agree, never in a million years. Ellis wasn't sure what to say, maybe it was selfish of him to want such a thing. He just wanted to be around Sophie, he didn't want to lose her again.

Ellis looked out the window, "Should I go after her?"

"No, it's too dangerous, let her cool down and talk to Darcy, she'll come back." She patted him on the shoulder and got up, "Just get some rest." She left the room. When she got back to their room Nick was lying in the bed naked, only a sheet covering his lower body. Aria was stunned at first, "You know, that's pretty unsanitary." She smirked,

"Well, we can make it more unsanitary... C'mon Aria, I could use a little warmth under these sheets."

She thought about it, "Maybe I'll leave you to freeze under there, let your dick fall off."

"You wouldn't do that."

She walked over to the bed, "Is that a challenge?" She raised an eyebrow,

"Maybe." He smirked.

She took off her glasses and sat them on the side table, "I guess I'll have to decline that challenge then." She took her shirt off and climbed into the bed,

Nick smiled up at her, "You're so beautiful."

"I'm sure you would have sex with me even if I weren't." She kissed him,

"Probably." He said, reaching for her pants.

* * *

I had never been this upset before, or maybe I have, I can't remember. I know that I haven't been that upset in my life as a hunter anyway. I was upset that Ellis was being so stupid, so selfish. I was trying to save his life and he was trying to end it. The wind blew the snow across the floor of the woods down below, I sat up in a tree and watched it in the fading light of the sunset. I wiped my nose on the sleeve of my sweater and sighed, "Are you crying?" A familiar voice asked. Javier appeared in front of me on the same branch,

"Javier? What are you doing here?... Did you follow us?!"

"Kinda... Yeah, I did, but why are you crying?"

"I wasn't... Something got in my nose."

"C'mon Sophie, I can tell when someone's upset."

"It was nothing... Just something stupid between my boyfriend and I..." I wiped my eyes on my sweater.

He nodded and adjusted himself on the branch, "Did you try talking things out with him?"

"No, I was so mad I started becoming into what I have feared for so long."

"What is it that you fear?"

"I'm afraid of becoming a zombie okay!"

He nodded, "I know what you mean, I felt the same when I was around my family, but the thing is Sophie, you need to be there for them. That's why my family was killed, I wasn't there to protect them. I know I barely know you, but I would hate to see the same thing happen to your family. Maybe try talking things over with him, if you guys were mad over something stupid then it won't be that hard to patch things up."

I looked at him, "You think so?" He nodded. I sniffled, "Thanks Javier." I hugged him.

Down below a twig snapped, "Sophie are you up there? I can smell you you know." Darcy called up.

I hopped out of the tree and landed in front of her, "Why are you here?" I asked,

"I came to find you, you kind of left Ellis petrified back there." Javier landed next to me. Darcy gave him a look then gave me a look, "Did I interrupt?"

"No, he's been following us since we left the gas station."

"Hello again." He waved to her,

"Aww Soph, you've got a stalker."

"Shut up Darcy, it's not like that okay!"

"Okay okay, come on we've got to get back so we can figure out what to do in the morning." Darcy turned to walk back,

"I think I can help you with your dilemma." Javier said,

"How? The cars go on for miles." I said,

"We can push them out of the way, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, and we can have Max help us." Darcy said,

"Let's go then." We started heading back to the hotel.

Max, Darcy, Javier and I pushed enough cars out of the way for us to at least get the van out of here. I looked up and noticed Max glaring intently at Javier, I think he didn't trust him, he probably thought he would steal Darcy from him. Darcy pushed the last car off of the road, "That should be enough space for us to drive through, what do you think?"

"Should be fine." I said,

"Good work guys." Javier patted Darcy on the back, Max glared at him again.

I held Max back from attacking him, "We'd better get back to the hotel so that they don't think we skipped town on them." Darcy said.

I nodded in agreement, "Thanks for the help Javier."

"No problem guys, I'm going to leave now... You guys make sure you get that group to safety."

"Can do." I smiled, he hopped off,

"Let's go guys." Darcy lead us back to the hotel.

I climbed onto the balcony and slowly opened and closed the door so I wouldn't disturb Ellis. He was laying in bed with the same light snore he always had, I smiled and climbed in next to him under the blankets, wrapping my arms around him. He shifted a little, "Soph...?" He rolled over,

"Ellis, I'm sorry I yelled at you like that-"

"Soph, I'm sorry for asking you to do something so stupid, I just haven't been thinking clearly lately and I love you so damn much." He said, cutting me off, "You shouldn't be the one apologizing, I was the one who was being stupid."

"You're not stupid Ellis. I think you're the smartest man I know."

He wrapped his arms around me, "You think so?"

"No, I know so." I kissed him and laid my head on his chest, "I love you Ellis."

"I love you too Soph." I closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

Darcy stayed out a little later than her friends, she didn't want to sleep, she wasn't tired. She hung around the parking lot a little bit just thinking about her family, and how much she missed them.

 _*Three years ago*_

 _Darcy ran home, she had to save her family, they had to get out of there. She had passed by the Vanderbilt house where she saw Sophia's parents frantically shoving their belongings in the car, she sighed, "At least Sophie got out safely." She said, still running to get home. All around her people were packing up and leaving, she watched as some of those things, tore people apart on the street. Darcy heard a man scream, she rounded the corner and saw Sophie's boyfriend Michael running away from the infected. He tripped and fell on the cement, "Ahh!" He yelled and looked right at Darcy, "Darcy! Help me!" She couldn't help him if she tried. The infected were right on him like an all you can eat buffet, she looked away as she heard him scream in pain, "C'mon Darce, you gotta go!" She said to herself and kept running to her home._

 _The door was locked when she got home, she kicked the door open, "Mom... Dad?" There was no answer, "Shit..." She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the drawer, "Justin?... Are you home?" She asked, heading up the stairs. Something grabbed her while she was on the bottom step, it was her mom, only it wasn't her mom. She was a gray color and she had these glazed over eyes, she was trying to bite Darcy. Darcy held back tears, "Mom... I'm sorry." She shoved her mom away and stabbed the knife into her skull. She wiped her eyes and ran up the stairs, her dad was laying on the floor already dead but he had turned too, "Justin?" She looked in his bedroom but he wasn't there. From her bedroom there was a noise, a low growling noise. She ran in the room, "Justin!" She saw her brother crouched in the corner of her room, he looked at her with red eyes and growled. He pounced on her and tried biting her, she blocked him with her arm and stabbed him too. She pushed his dead body off of him and noticed the bite on her arm, "Fuck..." She grabbed a hoodie off of the floor and put it on, she wanted to get out of the house, but instead she sat in the corner of her room and buried her face in her hands, "I'm so sorry..." She cried._

 _She sat in silence for a few minutes, "Darcy?" A voice asked. Darcy jumped, "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She shouted and grabbed the knife off of the floor, "Darcy its just me, Sophie." "Sophie?" Darcy looked closely and noticed her blonde haired blue eyed friend, she didn't get saved at all, "Yeah, come on, we're getting out of this hell hole." Sophie said, holding out her hand, "Where are we going to go?" Darcy asked, taking it. "I don't know, to the last safe place I guess." Sophie said, pulling her up._

She remembered it, all of it. The car ride to the gas station, her telling Sophie to leave her, but then it went fuzzy. Darcy was remembering more and more throughout the years, but some memories had holes in them. She tried so hard to remember what her brother looked like when he was normal, and her parents, but all she could remember were the zombies that she had killed. Darcy shook her head, "Maybe I should just forget them." She kicked a rock and went to go back to her room. On the bed there was a piece of paper, the handwriting was one that she didn't recognize but it seemed familiar,

"Darcy..." She read out loud,

"I know I am a man of very few words, but for years I've wanted to express how I feel. It always frustrates me that I can't say anything to anybody because you can have so much to say and not get the word across, but this is my chance to do it before I lose you. Since the day I've met you Darcy, I was always fond of you, you're incredibly smart and talented. You are funny and kind and you've made me feel something I hadn't felt since the day I've changed. The truth is that I love you Darcy McCormick, I've loved you for a long time, and I never had the chance to spell it out until now. I don't know if you feel the same way about me, but that's how I feel about you.

-Max"

Darcy looked up from the note, Max had feelings... for her? She had been denying it for so long that she had feelings for Max, Sophie had brought it up for so long that they liked each other. Darcy had been lying to herself she did like him, hell, she even loved him. Max may not have had much to say, but he was still caring for her, he was the one who took her to safety when she was scared and alone. She walked over to his room and knocked on the door, Max opened the door. Darcy kissed him, he was the first guy she ever kissed and really ever had feelings for. Max had a stunned expression on his face, "Look, I'm tired of denying how I feel about you and it would be stupid of me to turn you down when you poured out your feelings in a love letter and you can't talk to defend yourself if I did turn you down." Max shrugged, "Plus Sophie would kill me if I did... and it would be awkward." He nodded then gestured for her to come into his room, "Hold on there tiger, let's not push it. I'm going to bed." She walked back to her room.

Ellis woke up to the sun shining through the curtains, Sophie was curled up sound asleep next to him. He gave a small smile and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, she groaned and rolled over. Ellis was surprised no one was up yet, if they wanted to get going as soon as possible they should have been up by now. He left the room quietly to see if anyone was awake. In Nick and Aria's room he heard them talking, so he decided to listen in, "...She thought she could make it in the pool and totally broke her leg." Aria laughed, Nick was laughing too, "I miss my friend Jess, she was crazy, but she was funny."

"Your friends sounded like they were fun."

"Yeah, I wish I knew what happened to Jess and Brendan, we got separated and I hadn't seen them since."

"They are probably okay somewhere."

"I hope so..."

There was silence, "I love you." Nick said,

"I love you too."

"I'm glad I met you, who knows what my life would have been like if I hadn't met you." Nick said,

"My sister probably would have gotten on your nerves even worse than normal." Nick chuckled.

Ellis could hear them kissing, "Do you think anyone else is up yet?" Aria asked,

"Probably not, why? What do you have in mind."

"I think you know what I have in mind." Ellis walked away before they could start anything.

* * *

I woke up, the sunrise was shining through the curtain, Ellis was gone, I don't know where he was but I hoped he was around. I stretched and cracked my back. Ellis walked into the room, "Hey." I smiled at him,

"Hey." He smiled back,

"Anyone else up yet?"

"Nick and your sister are but I think they're busy."

"Yeah, busy." I smirked, "You sure you we can't be as busy as they are?"

"Gee Soph... I don't know."

I unzipped my hoodie and took it off, "Come on Ellis, you know you want to..."

"I.. I.."

I took off my tank top, "Ellis..."

"Ah to hell with it." He grinned and pinned me down on the bed.

I kissed him and pulled off his shirt, "You're so pale." I chuckled,

"Hey now, I'm sorry I haven't gotten sun lately, what's your excuse?" He smirked,

"I'm dead." I raised an eyebrow,

"Good point." Ellis kissed me again.

We were about to get intimate when a knock on the door interrupted us, "We're meeting in the hallway so get your asses out here." Darcy said.

Ellis and I sighed, "I think I just got cockblocked by my best friend..." I said.

Ellis got off of me, "Seems like it, we can't catch a break can we?"

"I guess not." I said, sitting up.

We met up in the hallway, "Soph, Max and I took care of the car situation for everyone last night. You'll have to maneuver around the cars but you can get through straight to Glenwood Springs." Darcy said,

"Good job you guys." Thomas said,

"Let's get going then." Coach said.

The others went ahead but Nick stayed back, "Sophie?" He gestured to me with his head to indicate that he wanted to talk to me.

I walked over to him, "What's up?"

"I've got a question for you." He looked to make sure the others were out of sight,

"Look Soph, I really love your sister, and I wanted to know if you were okay with this but I want to marry Aria." I remember Nick bringing up his other marriages multiple times, and by the sounds of it, none of them ended well. Aria had the same problem with her relationships too, maybe they were meant for each other,

"I'll agree to let you marry her, but you gotta promise that you're going to treat her right, or I'll hurt you... Really bad."

"Of course, I would never hurt Aria... Thanks Sophie." He gave me a hug. I was shocked, Nick never gave me any form of physical contact before. It was actually... Nice receiving a hug from him. He let go,

"We should go." I said,

"Right..." We walked off.

I sat next to Ellis in the van, "Let's get to the outpost." Coach drove back onto the highway. He swerved through the cars and we were off again onto the highway,

"I can't wait to finally see my family." Thomas said,

"I can't wait to take a shower again." Aria said,

"Or sleep in a real bed." Rochelle added.

The sign ahead informed us that we were about 30 minutes from the destination, I held Ellis' hand, "You're gonna be okay, right?" I asked him,

"Of course... I'll be fine without you around... I hope." I leaned my head on him, "Trust me, I'll be fine." He kissed the top of my head. I didn't want him to go, but he had to, he needed to be safe, away from me.

Nick was holding Aria's hand in the seat behind us, "These last three years have been crazy huh?" Aria said,

"You're telling me, we've all been through some rough shit." Nick agreed,

"That is an understatement." Rochelle said,

"At least you guys will finally be safe again." Darcy said,

"Yeah... Safe..." Ellis muttered.

Coach pulled off the expressway, "This is it." He said,

"The map says it should be at a shopping center." Rochelle said.

We drove up to the shopping center, "You have to be kidding me." Aria said as we all piled out of the van,

"I'm having a sense of Deja vu..." I said,

"Empty? No... It cant be empty!" Thomas said.

Coach walked over to a sign, "This is bullshit!" Nick exclaimed,

"Sweetie, calm down it's going to be okay." Aria said, putting her hand on his cheek.

I looked at Ellis, "At least I can spend more time with you." He smiled,

"Maybe it's meant to be." I smiled back.

Coach walked over, "Well y'all, looks like we're going to Salt Lake City."

"Salt Lake City? Why?!" Thomas asked,

"That's where the nearest outpost is."

"Excuse me." Someone said. We all turned around, "I think I may be able to help."


	5. Chapter 5

**Not gonna lie, I almost forgot about updating until i put Left 4 Dead 2 in the xbox and I was like "Shit! I haven't updated in like a week!" (I was at a funeral friday so i get a free pass in my opinion)**

 **I don't have much to say anyway, im just going to go play L4D2 now**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~** **  
**

 **Chapter 5: Fooled Around and Fell in Love**

Gina was at the other base waiting around for her husband and friends. She didn't want to expect the worst, but that was all she could do at a time like this. Thalia ran up to her, "Mommy!"

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Where is daddy?"

Gina stopped and picked up her daughter, "He'll be here soon baby, don't worry." She kissed her daughter on the forehead,

"I miss him mommy."

"I miss him too." Gina said, looking out the window at the ocean on the horizon.

* * *

"Javier? What are you doing here?" I asked. The others raised their guns, "Hang on guys, he's cool..." They lowered their guns,

"Wait, you know him Soph?" Ellis asked,

"No, well, yeah... Well, sort of."

"We ran into him back at the store and he's been following us." Darcy cut in,

"You've known he's been following us and you didn't tell us?" Nick asked,

"I didn't know he was following us until last night." I said,

"How do we know he ain't dangerous?" Ellis asked,

"He wouldn't be willing to help us if he was dangerous!" I said,

"Hold up y'all, let's talk this out. Alone." Coach said.

Javier nodded and backed off as we huddled into a group, "Do you really think we can trust him?" Rochelle said,

"He's harmless you guys."

"Remember what happened the last time we let someone who seemed harmless into our group. You wouldn't be where you are now Sophie if it weren't for Bianca." Nick said.

I growled, if there was one thing I remembered about my human life was that bitch Bianca, I hated her, I still hated her. Dead or not that bitch always seemed to be haunting me one way or another, "This isn't that." I said finally,

"He helped us clear the way here last night, he wants to help guys and he hasn't done anything to lose our trust." Darcy said.

The others looked at each other, "Well Coach, it's your decision." Aria said,

"I say we trust him, but if he does anything that will make us not trust him then he's dead." Coach finalized,

"Thank you Coach." I smiled.

We broke from our huddle, "Sir, we decided to let you come along, but you do anything that may be harmful to us and we will shoot you."

"Thank you guys so much, I promise I won't let you down." Javier said, excitedly.

I smiled and walked over to him, "Okay so first thing you gotta do is know everyone's name. That's Coach, Rochelle, Thomas, Ellis, Nick and Aria." I pointed to each of them as I introduced them, "And of course you already know Darcy and Max."

Javier nodded and waved, "Hi... Sorry if I forget your name from time to time, I'm a little forgetful of names."

"That's fine, so is Darcy." I said,

"Yeah... Hey!"

"Okay y'all, we need to think of a plan on how we are going to get to Salt Lake City." Coach said,

"Why did they tell us to come here if they aren't even here?" Aria asked.

The wind blew, I could smell something, a strong metallic smell, but it wasn't metal. Darcy, Max, and Javier must have noticed it too because we all looked at the building of the shopping center, "I think we just found the answer... but it's not going to be pretty." I said, heading toward the building, Darcy and Max followed. Inside the shopping center there were dead bodies everywhere, "Ho-lee shit." I said, observing the bodies.

Darcy knelt down next to a body, "Soph, check this out." She rolled the body over, there was a bullet hole right in between the man's eyes, "These people were killed, they weren't bitten."

"Do you think the military killed them?"

"No, look." Another body laying on the floor was a soldier, he too was covered in bullet holes,

"Who could have done this?" I asked,

"I don't know, but I don't want to find out." We left the building.

The others were talking to Javier, "... That should get you there the quickest, provided we don't have to detour."

"Our only issue would be finding gas." Rochelle said,

"I don't think that's going to be our only issue." I said,

"We found out why nobody is here." Darcy said, "In the building, there are bodies everywhere, all of them shot. Someone is around killing people."

"We better get out of here before they kill us too." Aria said,

"Let's go then." Nick said, heading back to the van.

It was scary to think that there was a bigger threat out there, besides the zombies I mean. Surely these people were stronger than the military and I don't want the pleasure of meeting their acquaintance, I didn't want to say I was scared, but I was definitely worried. Javier confirmed that we could definitely make it to Utah within the next day, but that was if we were lucky. I closed my eyes, and sighed, "You okay babe?" Ellis asked, putting a hand on my leg,

"Yeah, yeah, I'm perfectly okay." I gave him a smile, hoping it was convincing to him.

Ellis unfortunately knew me enough to not be convinced, "Soph, I know when something is bothering you. You always close your eyes and sigh like that."

"I hate when you're observant."

He smirked, "Only a real man knows his woman."

"Well I guess Nick isn't a real man." Aria giggled,

"Ouch... That hurts." Nick muttered, "And I do too know you."

"Oh yeah? What's my favorite color?" I knew it, her favorite color is teal. I didn't know why she liked that color but she did, Nick hadn't said anything, "That's what I thought." Aria said,

"That's not fair, you never told me your favorite color."

"I didn't?"

"No."

"Well shit, I thought I did." She probably told him at one point in time, but he just forgot, "My favorite color is teal." She said,

"That's a stupid color." Nick said,

"You're stupid." She said. With the way those two talked to each other you'd think that they hated each other, but that's how they showed love I suppose, they were perfect for each other.

It was dark out, we had been driving for hours when we crossed the border into Utah, "We're gonna have to call it a night y'all." Coach said, pulling off to the side of the road,

"We can keep watch around the van so you guys can have more room to sleep." Darcy said,

"Good idea." I said,

"Soph..." Ellis grabbed my hand,

"I'll be okay." I kissed him, "Just get some sleep." I climbed out of the van with Javier, Darcy and Max.

We looked around, there was nothing but flat land for miles, with the exception of hills in the distance, "Well this is..."

"Boring?" I finished Darcy's sentence,

"Yup." She nodded. We sat around the van, "Whoever was back there has a lot of weaponry." Darcy whispered so the others could sleep in the van,

"But why would they kill all those people and the military?" I asked,

"Maybe they wanted to establish some sort of new world order or something." Javier said,

"Who knows what they could do to us." I shuddered at the thought and stared out at the empty field,

"Best we get moving as soon as we can before the worst can happen." Darcy said, I nodded in agreement.

Darcy and Max had fallen asleep by the van so Javier and I went for a walk through the frozen desert, "At least there isn't snow here... yet." I said,

"C'mon the snow isn't that bad, you get used to it after a while."

"I was in Colorado for three years and still hated it."

"Yeah, that's what you get when you live in Florida your whole life."

"Florida was a great state okay." We climbed up a hill, "So warm, so beautiful."

"Just like you."

"What?"

"No... I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you are... you know... Not all zombified like others I've met."

"Well thank you, you know, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're hitting on me." I smirked and hopped off the hill.

He landed next to me, "Does it bother you that I am?"

"A little, I do have a boyfriend you know."

"Yeah, but the thing is, he's human, and you're not. What are you going to do when he gets rescued and you're all by yourself?"

"I'll do the same thing I did the last three years, live with Darcy and Max."

He grabbed my hand, "Sophie, I never felt this way about a girl before, not even in my human life. Sophie... you're a special girl."

I looked at him. Maybe he was right, I couldn't stay with Ellis forever, maybe it was time to move on and let Ellis go. It was something I didn't want to do, but it was time. Javier leaned forward and kissed me, I didn't pull away, and never in my life had I felt so bad, "Javier..."

"Soph, I think love you." He had only just met me, but what did I know, I fell in love with Ellis in a few days, I guess it didn't matter anymore...

* * *

"Ellis..." Someone whispered, shaking Ellis, "Ellis!"

"Huh?" Ellis woke up and rolled over, "Nick? What are you doing?"

"I don't trust that guy." Nick said,

"What guy?"

"That friend of Sophia's..."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about him."

"Why are you telling me this now? I'm trying to sleep."

"I don't know, I feel like he's luring us into a trap, we need to tell the others."

"We can tell them in the morning."

"No, I mean tell them while Sophie, Darcy and Max aren't here."

Ellis sat up, "Nick, we can't tell them that we don't trust him, especially since we told them earlier that we trusted him enough to let us join. Sophie will be pissed."

Nick sighed, "We have to think about the safety of the others first."

"Why don't we just see what he does and take care of him if he becomes a problem."

"Fine, but if someone gets hurt for us to make that decision then don't be mad when I say I told you so." Nick went back to his seat to go back to bed.

* * *

It was wrong, it was so terribly terribly wrong. Ellis had done nothing wrong to betray my trust and I just went and cheated on him with a guy I barely knew. Javier was so kind to me, so sweet, and I knew I wasn't wrong to trust him. I put my shirt back on, "Oh God... What am I going to say to Ellis?"

"Who said you had to say anything at all?" He asked, putting on his hoodie,

"You mean... Lie to him?" I never lied to him before, not about anything this severe... They had just been little harmless white lies.

Javier stood up, "Yeah, I mean, you already cheated on him, just don't tell him the truth about it."

"Gee... I don't know Javier." I stood up next to him,

"Come on, we better get back before they do suspect something." We headed back to the van where everyone was still asleep.

The sun rose over the horizon, "Man who knew sleeping on the side of the road could be so comfortable." Darcy said, stretching.

I cracked my back, "I know, I never thought it would be comfortable." We got up. The others got out of the van to stretch, "Hey, how'd you sleep?" I asked Ellis, giving him a hug,

"Kind of rough." He kissed me on the top of my head.

Aria walked around the van, "I've got to pee." She said,

"There's a hill you can squat behind right over there." I said, pointing to a hill. She ran off behind the hill, Nick was digging through his bag when something fell out, it was a small box from a jewelry store. I picked it up, "Ooh, what's this?"

"Give me that." Nick tried to grab it but I moved it away,

"Let me get a look at what you got for my sister." I opened it up. It was a silver banded ring with a large diamond in the middle and on the sides were two smaller diamonds, it was so pretty. I smiled, "Where did you get this."

"I found it a while ago at an abandoned jewelry store in Denver. Do you think she will like it?"

"She'll love anything you give her Nick." I handed it back to him,

"Thanks." He put it back in his bag.

Aria came back, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get in the van y'all." Coach said. We got back in the van, "Next stop, Salt Lake City." Coach started up the van and we headed back on the highway.

Small towns passed by, but a lot of it was empty fields, vast frozen deserts and emptiness. I leaned against the window, thinking about what I did, and how I hated myself for it. I know I had the power to stop myself, and for some reason I didn't. Ellis leaned against my side, "You okay?" I asked,

"Yeah, just a rough night of sleep. You're a lot more comfortable."

"Thanks? I suppose." There was a loud popping noise and the van swerved all over the road,

"Woah, woah!" Coach tried to gain control of the vehicle.

We crashed into a tree just off the side of the road, "Shit..." I said, rubbing my head,

"Everyone okay?" Rochelle asked,

"Uh... I think." Aria said, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know." We got out of the car. Coach opened the hood of the van, "Uh... Ellis?"

"Let me take a look." He went over to the front, "It looks like the fuel line was cut."

"Who would cut the fuel line?" Thomas asked,

"And when?" Aria added,

"No one came around last night, we were awake the whole time." For the most part I mean, but either way we still would have heard something,

"Looks like we're walking from here." Coach looked at the map, then looked up at the sign, "We're here in Wellington." He pointed at the map, "We just keep on the interstate until we get to Salt Lake City."

"Maybe we can get a car before then." Aria said,

"Yeah, let's get going. Daylight is burning." Javier said, we started walking down the highway.

I was walking next to Aria, she sighed, "Penny for your thoughts?" I asked,

"I'm just tired, tired of everything really. Like, these last three years have been nothing but bullshit you know."

"Oh trust me, I know. At least you have the memories of it all." She didn't say anything.

Nick reached over and grabbed her hand, I knew Aria wanted some time with Nick so I lagged back with Thomas, "I wish I knew what Gina was up to right now. I miss her so much."

"I'm sure that she is thinking about you everyday." I said, patting him on the shoulder,

"Thanks Soph... Sometimes I think that I can be as optimistic as she was but, I don't know how she did it."

"She was being strong for the both of you, I think she wanted to prove that even though she was pregnant, she could still live in this world. And she sure as shit did."

He smiled, "Yeah, not a day went by when we were on our own that I didn't worry about her, I was so glad you guys found us, it was like a gift from heaven you know."

I nodded, "I'm sure we all found each other for a reason." We continued our walk.

There was a sign that said Salt Lake City was still 120 miles away, "Man, where are all the working cars?" Nick asked. We had seen some cars along the way but nothing that was in working condition, or they didn't have gas in them.

Some more cars were scattered around, "Split up and check these cars." Coach said.

I split off with Aria and Nick, Aria was checking the car we were at, leaving Nick and I alone, "Should I do it now?" He whispered,

"What?" I asked,

"Shh... Should I ask Aria the question now?"

"Ohh, if you think the time is right then go for it... While I'm here so I can witness it." I whispered back,

"Okay." He went around the car, "Aria...?"

"Yeah babe, what is it?" She got out of the car,

"Uhm, well I wanted to tell you that I love you a lot, I think I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you. You are such a smart and beautiful girl and I know you don't deserve a man like me, but you mean the world to me..." He pulled the box out of his pocket and got down on his knee, "And I want you to be my wife."

"Oh my god!" Aria gasped, covering her face with her hands, "Nick..." She was in tears,

"I know you probably would want a big wedding and everything but with the way things are, we don't have to do all that..."

Aria uncovered her face, "Yes, of course I'll be your wife!" She smiled.

He put the ring on her finger and kissed her, it was enough to make me emotional, I was crying, "That was so beautiful." I clapped.

Nick pulled away from the kiss, "By the way, she made me do it in front of her so she could witness it." He said.

She walked over and gave me a hug, "Thanks Soph."

"Yeah yeah, you're lucky Nick has grown on me."

She laughed and looked at the ring, "Nick, it's so beautiful." She said,

"Thanks, I got it for free." He smirked,

"Did you steal it?"

"No, I found it at an old jewelry store."

"Oh... That's not so bad."

"Alright you two, let's get you guys to Salt Lake City so you can have your honeymoon already."

We walked back towards the others, "Find anything?" Darcy asked,

"No you?"

"Nothing."

We grouped together, "Well, lets get going." Coach started leading us down the road,

"Put your hands up!" Someone shouted. People started coming out of the bushes and from the abandoned buildings, we were outnumbered, and these people had automatic weapons, so we were definitely outgunned.

We all put our hands up, "We mean no harm, we're just passing through." Rochelle said,

"Put down your weapons!" They started circling around us and closing in.

The others put their weapons on the ground, a guy came forward presumably the leader, "Excellent, you guys are coming with us." They started knocking out the others with the butt of their guns,

"Hey! You can't-" They got me too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Do you believe in magic, in a young girls heart, how the music can free her, whenever it starts... I apologize, I was watching TF2 animations and this song got stuck in my head so I looped it on iTunes during editing... Dang.**

 **Let me just tell you guys that Earl Grey tea is amazing and I don't regret my purchases today, I also bought Oolong tea...**

 **Isn't that a funny word?**

 **Oolong...**

 **Hehe...**

 **sorry...**

 **Anyhow, in case everyone is wondering, yes I did inspire this chapter from Negan from The Walking Dead, I love Negan, and also Javier is based from Javier from The Walking Dead telltale games... so thats a thing**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 6: The Betrayed, The Captured, and The Dead**

 _Aria was in the kitchen, she had her head buried in his hands. I didn't know why she was crying, I had just gotten home from school. I didn't want to ask, but I did anyway, "Uh... Aria? You okay?" "No! Does it look like I'm okay?" She lifted her head up to look at me. Her makeup was running down her face and her eyes were all red, "No, honestly you look like shit." I said, grabbing a can of soda from the fridge, "May I ask why though?" "Because that asshole Jesse left me for some bitch with huge fake tits only because she gave him a blowjob and some weed!" She buried her face in her hands again and cried some more, "Oh..." I wasn't sure how to really respond to that, I was only a high school junior and I couldn't handle my high school problems let alone her college problems. I sat next to her at the table, "He told me he loved me!" "That's what men do Aria, they tell you they love you and then they go and take a shit on you for some fake tittied hoe." I patted her on the shoulder. It wasn't the first time she had been cheated on, I'm sure it wouldn't be the last either. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, "Thanks Soph... I think?" "I try my best you know, I can't pretend to understand your college problems, I just say what I can." "Well still, thanks for at least listening." She smiled at me._

I woke up, it was dark, and I had a headache, "Ugh..." I couldn't see anything, "Guys?" I sat up, my hands were tied behind my back and my legs were bound as well, "Guys!"

"Soph?"

"Nick, where are you?"

"I don't know, I can't see anything."

"I think we're blindfolded." Darcy said,

"Who the hell was that?" Ellis asked,

"I don't know, they just came out of the bushes." Aria said.

I shifted my legs to sit up, kicking someone in the process, "Ow, who the hell kicked me?" Nick asked,

"My bad." I smirked,

"I can hear you smirking over there."

"That's impressive." I said,

"We have to get out of here." Darcy said,

"We don't even know where we are." Rochelle said,

"Let me try and get this blindfold off..." I said, wiggling my hands around, "I can't get my hands free."

"Try coming over here..." Darcy said.

There were footsteps outside the room, "Shh, someone's coming." I said.

I heard a door open to my right, "Ah good, you're all awake, I had a feeling maybe we accidentally killed you." A voice said, "C'mon, lets take them to The Boss, he'll decide what to do with them."

I heard footsteps and then someone grabbed me, "Let go of me!" I tried struggling out of the person's grasp but they were too strong, even for me.

The guy laughed, "Let's go." We were taken out of the room.

"Get on your knees." The guy said, I was pushed down onto my knees. The blindfold was pulled off of my face, there were lights surrounding us, headlights. I blinked a few times, the lights were blinding me and giving me a headache, but I didn't have my hoodie, they must have taken it. Next to me on my left was Ellis, and Darcy was on my right, "Soph..." Darcy whispered,

"Quiet you." The guy behind her hit her with his gun, "Unless you want to get killed." Darcy glared at him then faced forward. There were a bunch of people around, men and women, all carrying weapons. I didn't know where we were but we were all going to be dead if we didn't get out of here.

Someone laughed, "Well well well, what do we have here?" A man walked out in front of us. He was tall and pretty muscular, his hair was dark and he was carrying an axe over his shoulder, "Looks like we have a couple of assholes threatening our territory." I felt like I had seen this situation in a television show before, it felt like deja vu. He handed his axe to one of his lackeys and pulled out a pistol, "And they have some zombie companions." He approached me first, "You..." he pointed the gun right in between my eyes, "You must be Sophia, the beautiful huntress I've heard so much about these last few days." He knew who I was? But how? Unless somebody was telling him about us, someone who had just been new to the group and didn't fully have our trust.

There was only one person who would do that, I looked down, "Javier..."

"Wow, an observant one aren't you? No wonder he was so fond of you." I let out a low growl, "Don't be mad at me, I wasn't the one who let my feelings get in the way of protecting the ones I care about."

"I didn't!" I leaned forward about to stand up when he pressed the barrel deeper into my skin,

"Ah, ah, ah, you wouldn't want me to spread your pretty little brains all over the ground now would we?" I backed off. He smirked, "That's what I thought sweetheart." he lowered the gun, "Where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself my name's 'The Boss' you know why? Because I'm the boss, I run the show around here, and it's best you people know this so we don't end up with a disagreement later." He snapped his fingers and some of his lackeys threw bags onto the ground. It was all our stuff, well, the others' stuff. He kicked my backpack, "For a group of survivors, you guys carry a lot of shit." He grabbed it and dumped out the contents in the dirt, "Hmm." He grabbed the food that Ellis stocked up,

"That's our food!" Aria said,

" _Was_ your food, everything that was yours is now mine, you all belong to me." He finished rummaging through the bags, "Now, I need to know you understand my terms and conditions here, think of it as sort of a... Initiation ceremony, only one or two of you aren't going to make it past."

"You're going to kill us?" Aria asked,

"No, no sweetie. I'm only going to kill one of you, unless you guys do something to change my mind." He approached her, "Got it?" She nodded. He smirked then looked her over like he was checking her out, "Look, I know it's going to be painful for you guys losing someone and shit, but look, I've gotta do what I gotta do." He paced back and forth in front of us, he stopped in front of Max and pointed his gun at him,

"Please! Don't kill him!" Darcy begged, I never heard Darcy beg before she was such a brave person, it was almost heartbreaking.

He laughed, "Aww, is this your lover? Relax, I need you three to work for me." He walked past me again, "Man, I just cant seem to decide..." He walked away from us.

Then in a split second he turned and shot Coach right in between the eyes, "Coach!" I cried,

"You bastard!" Ellis exclaimed,

"Look, I don't know why you guys were expecting something different, I told you it was going to happen. Would you like me to do it again?" No one said a word, I think they were either too shocked or they just didn't want to upset the asshole. He smirked, "Alright, looks like we're done here. You guys take them to where they will be staying, these three are coming with me." He gestured to Darcy, Max and I. We were escorted by 'The Boss' to follow him, I didn't know where we were going, but he led us into a building. The hallway was dimly lit, the floor was linoleum tile like what you'd see in a school or a doctor's office. It was empty and our footsteps echoed through the halls, "Look, I know it's a bit of a shock to you losing someone you love and care about but the man was old, and I could tell he was your leader and he was a threat to me and my people."

"He wasn't a threat to anybody... None of us are." Darcy said,

"You may see that, but you can never be too careful sweetheart." Darcy rolled her eyes. We walked into a room that looked more like an office, "Oh, my apologies... Randy, please let our new friends free." I felt someone tugging at the ropes that bound my hands together,

"We're not friends." I said, "We barely know you."

"What is there you need to know? You call me The Boss, I call you Sophie and..." He looked at Darcy and Max, "These two..."

"Listen, the name is Darcy, alright, and this is Max." She pointed to Max,

"You are a sassy one aren't you? You better watch yourself." She glared at him, "Look, this is where you all will be staying... Well not here, this is where I stay and where you are not allowed to be unless I say you can be here."

"Fun." I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

He faced us, "Oh, it will be. Randy show Darcy and Max to their room, I need a moment with the lovely Sophia." Randy nodded and walked out with Darcy and Max.

The Boss walked over to me, "What do you want?" I asked,

"You ask too many questions you know. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Suit yourself." He poured himself a glass of whiskey,

"What do you want me for?"

"You're going to do some favors for me, but you're going to need help."

"Hello, Sophie." Javier said, walking into the room.

I growled and punched him in the face, "How dare you, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, "We let you into our group and you just go and turn your back on us!"

"I did it for a reason." He said,

"For what possible reason could you have to do such a thing?!"

"Does New Orleans ring a bell?"

I thought about it, "Vaguely."

"What about the name Bianca?"

"Oh yeah, that bitch."

"Yeah, the bitch was my sister!"

"Bianca was your sister? And I slept with you?!"

"You were the one who was so desperate for some dick."

"I was not desperate for dick okay, I was perfectly happy without you around."

"Oh right, is that why you were crying the other night, 'Oh my boyfriend and I are arguing over something stupid boo hoo' woe is me."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah well that was the only time in three years I knew him that we fought like that."

"I'm sure it was."

I growled, "Did you just leave me in here so I could get made fun of?"

"Of course not, I need you and Javier to go on a run for me."

"A run for what?"

"Supplies." He handed Javier a piece of paper, "That's where you need to go. Get to it."

"C'mon sweetheart, let's go." Javier walked past me,

"Stop calling me that." I followed him.

* * *

Aria was thrown into a dark cell, "What's going on here?" She asked,

"This is your new living quarters, you start work tomorrow morning."

The guy said and closed the door. She was in the pitch darkness, all alone and she was scared. Coach didn't deserve to die, nobody in their group did, they were just survivors trying to find their way to safety. Aria sniffled and sat in the corner of the cell, she missed Nick even if they were only separated for a few minutes. She hoped that Nick would keep his mouth shut long enough for them to get out of there, if they did ever get out of there. With a sigh Aria leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

Nick felt around for a way out, he had to get him and the others out of there. Coach was gone now and he hated himself for letting it happen, _Maybe I should have let myself get killed_ , he thought, but he couldn't do that, not to his new wife. Aria meant the world to him, she was different than his other wives, they had a lot in common and he liked that. She put up with his shit when no one else would and she knew how to keep him in line. With a sigh Nick sat on the cold floor, he could hear a faint cry echo in the hallway, "Aria?" He said,

"N-Nick?"

He got up and walked over to the door. It was a solid metal door but it had a small slit that he could see through into the dim hallway, "Aria are you okay?"

"I'm fine..."

"Guys, what are we going to do?" Ellis asked,

"We have to get out of here."

"How are we going to do that?" Thomas asked,

"I wish Coach were here, he always had a plan." Aria said, there was a sigh,

"We have to start thinking for ourselves now." Rochelle said, "Coach may have been our leader but it's time for us to stop relying on what ideas he had and start thinking for ourselves."

"We'll have to wait." Thomas said,

"What do you mean?" Aria asked,

"We don't know our way around this place, even if we did manage to get out of here we don't know where our weapons are, we don't know where Sophie and the others are, and we don't know how to get out of here."

"Thomas is right... who knows what they're doing to Soph right now." Ellis said sadly,

"We wait until morning when they have us doing... Whatever it is they want us to do and see if we get a look around. Hopefully Sophie or Darcy can tell us something."

"If they're even allowed to talk to us." Aria said,

"Right, if not then we're going to have to snoop around on our own."

"That's not a bad idea Thomas." Rochelle said,

"Gee Thomas, I didn't take you as much of a free thinker." Nick smirked,

"Shut up Nick." Rochelle said.

* * *

Darcy stared out the window of the room she was in, there wasn't much of a view, just an overlook of the whole compound. She looked around for any weak spots in the cement walls that looked like a way out, but she didn't see any. She sat on the rickety bed and sighed, "We have to get out of here." The door to her room opened, Max stood there looking at here, "Close the door behind you." She said, he nodded and closed it, "Max, we need to think of a way out of here before we end up dead." She whispered, he nodded. Darcy stood up and approached him, "Any thoughts?" He walked over to the window and pointed at the wall, "That's what I thought but there's no way of us sneaking out of here, not without making a big scene." He rubbed his chin, "Have you gotten a look around the compound at all?" Max shook his head, "They have to have an armory somewhere... Where else would they hide the guns they took from all those soldiers." Max shrugged, "Let's do some investigating... I don't think "The Boss" is going to mind." Darcy smirked.

* * *

"Words cannot express how much I hate you." I said to Javier,

"Aww but I love you."

"No you don't, you don't even know me."

"That didn't seem to bother you last night when we had sex."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, you know, what's stopping me from beheading you the way I beheaded your sister?" I smirked,

"You come back without me and you and your friends won't live to see the morning light."

"Why? Are you and "The Boss" secret lovers?" I asked, using air quotes.

He rolled his eyes at me, "Try father."

I stopped, "He's your father? You know, I'm not even shocked that you lied to me about your family being dead, you're just a factory of lies aren't you?"

"Yeah well you do what you have to to survive."

"What else did you lie to me about? Is your name even Javier?"

"Yes, my name is actually Javier you idiot."

I slapped him, "Don't call me an idiot, okay? I'm sorry I have trust issues because my friends and I were lured into a trap and one of them was killed, it's all your fault!"

He paused for a moment, "Yeah? Well why should I trust you when you killed my sister?"

"The bitch tried to kill me first! Even before she was turned into a zombie!"

He looked down at the dirt then turned around, "I know... I saw it."

"You did?... You were watching us?"

He nodded, "After I was bitten, my family was evacuated without me, but Bianca was still in Georgia visiting our grandma. I had found her and I was trying to get her to safety but when we were at that amusement park we had an argument and I lost control and bit her... I was so ashamed of what I did that I ran off but I stayed close and watched as you took her in and threw her out like she was worthless."

"We threw her out because she was bitten and she tried to KILL ME!" I exclaimed.

He turned back to me, "Yeah, and how do you think she knew where you guys were?"

I shook my head, "The asshole apple doesn't fall far from the asshole tree I guess." He growled, "C'mon, let's get these stupid supplies so I can go to bed already." I said, looking at the list.


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter would have been out to you guys earlier but my internet went out... and i had to do dishes today, so it's a little late... well i guess it really isnt, whatever.**

 **I purposely didnt update on monday because it was candy/cookie baking day here, and im not going to update this monday because of christmas. Maybe tuesday will be the next chapter, the story is almost over, how sad... Im not sure what I'm going to do next, I have something in mind though.**

 **Also, Happy Holidays to all my readers out there, whatever it is you celebrate, if you celebrate anything. Hope everyone has a good holiday season :)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 7: Escape Plan**

It was morning and the group was put to work to 'earn their keep' as The Boss had told them, "This is sexist." Aria said to Rochelle,

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this, he has all the women working in the kitchen and in the gardens while the men are out gallivanting around on security detail."

Rochelle shrugged, "It is what it is, we have to do what we have to or we'll be killed."

Darcy walked into the kitchen, "Where are the fruits?" She asked,

"Why?" Aria asked,

"Because his royal pain in the ass wanted me to retrieve some for him."

"They're over in the pantry." Rochelle said.

Darcy grabbed the apples and came back, "Max and I located the armory, we're going to try and think of a way to get out of here." She whispered,

"Thomas had the same idea, he said we should wait and observe what we can, exploit some weaknesses." Aria said,

"We'll talk later, we don't want to seem suspicious." Rochelle whispered,

"Right... Thanks for the apples guys." Darcy said out loud and walked away.

Thomas and Nick were in the greenhouse working on helping with the harvesting, "Notice anything?" Nick whispered,

"The only way out that I've seen is through the front gate, which is heavily guarded." Thomas whispered back.

The two stopped talking when a guard walked past them, "Pick up the pace ladies, these vegetables aren't going to harvest themselves." The guy said and walked away,

"Dick." Nick mumbled when the guy was out of earshot,

"We'll have to regroup with Aria and Ro and see what they know."

"What about Darcy or Soph?"

"Haven't seen them around, I don't know what they're doing."

"We'll look around later." The two went back to work.

* * *

I walked down to the garage where Ellis was working on a truck, I looked around to make sure none of the guards were looking then grabbed Ellis from behind and took him behind the truck. He started flailing around, "Ellis, Ellis! Calm down it's just me." I whispered, removed my hand from his mouth,

"Shit, sorry Soph. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine, nothing happened last night. Listen, Darcy is planning to get out of here."

"How?"

"We don't know yet. She said she was going to try and talk to the others about it. We have to get to Salt Lake City."

He nodded, "Sophie?"

"Yeah babe?"

He kissed me, "Be careful."

"I will, you better go before you get in trouble." I kissed him again and left. I went down to the cafeteria where I almost ran into Darcy, "Oh shit, sorry Darce."

"It's okay... That asshole wanted me to bring him apples for some reason."

"Yeah well that asshole is Javier's dad."

"No shit... seriously?"

I nodded, "And not only that, he's Bianca's brother."

She nearly dropped the basket of apples she was carrying, "Is that why he brought us here?"

I nodded, "I think he told his dad to kill Coach. He had been watching us since we were at Whispering Oaks, and Coach was the one who told Bianca to leave our group when we found out she was bitten. Javier was the one who bit her and he was the one who sent her after us."

"That little dickbag."

"I know, we have to talk to everyone at dinner time, if everyone is there."

"Right, but we can't seem suspicious."

"Agreed, we should probably go before we look suspicious." She nodded and we went our separate ways.

Aria was chopping onions when I walked in, "This sucks." She said, wiping her eyes,

"Yeah, too bad there wasn't a candle around for you to light." I said, grabbing some strawberries off of the table and eating them. No one else was around in the cafeteria, it was just Rochelle and Aria, "Are you guys alone?" I asked quietly.

Aria looked around and nodded, "But stay quiet just in case."

"I think everyone is on board when I say that we have to get out of here."

"Yeah, we talked to Darcy about it, she said something about the Armory." Rochelle said,

"That's perfect..." I heard a door open,

"Talk to us at dinner." Aria said, I nodded and left.

I was walking out of the cafeteria when I heard a noise, "Psst... Sophia!" Someone whispered. I turned but didn't see anyone, "Over here, between the buildings." The voice said, I walked in between the buildings and saw a figure turn towards me, "Sophia it's me." The girl pulled off her hood,

"Holy shit, Jazlynn!" I gave her a hug,

"Look, I know you're trying to get out with your friends and I want in." I couldn't leave her here, not in this awful place, she was too innocent to be here.

I looked around, "Jazz, how did you get here?"

"When I was looking for my family I ended up finding them but we got captured here. The Boss said if I didn't sleep with him that he would kill me, I didn't have a choice!"

"Shh, Jazz it's okay, it's okay... I killed his daughter and slept with his son."

"Sophia please, I can't stand being here anymore." She practically begged,

"Jazz, don't worry, you're coming with us. I'm not about to let some scumbag slave you around."

"Thank you so much Sophia!" She hugged me tight, "I gotta go, come find me at dinner." "Right, see ya then." We split up.

The Boss was pouring himself a drink when I walked in, "You wanted to see me... Sir?"

"Yes!" He turned to face me,

"Look, Sophie, I know what you did to my daughter, Javier told me everything, but I'm not going to kill you because of it. Bianca was a problem to begin with and when she was around Javi she was 100 times worse. She had her mom's attitude, that's why I sent her to her grandparents in Georgia."

"Okay..."

He came over and put a hand on my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow, "You remind me of her."

I swatted his hand away, "How dare you say that I remind you of such an awful creature, she tried to kill me and my friends multiple times!"

"Hmm that maybe so, but she was still my daughter, and I think that maybe you owe some incentive for her passing."

"I didn't even kill her, Javier did!"

"From what he told me, you were the one who beheaded her."

I sighed, "What do you mean by 'incentive'?"

"Well... Javier seems to be a little lonely lately-"

"No." I said,

"What do you mean 'No'?"

"I mean that I'm not having sex with him... Again."

"Well then, how about if you don't then I will have to call in that little mechanic friend of yours that you seem to be fond of." I growled, "C'mon Sophie, don't you think you owe it to him?"

"No I don't think that at all, I don't really owe anyone anything. How about you owe me my life back?"

"Fine, I'll just call your friend in here and-"

I sighed, "Fine! I'll do it if you just leave my friends alone." He smirked.

That night at dinner I looked around to make sure none of the Boss' people was watching us. His people were sitting at tables eating dinner like everyone else, I sat next to the others at the table, "So, how was everyone's day?" Aria asked,

"I want out of here." Darcy whispered, "So what's the plan?"

"The trucks." Ellis said,

"What?"

"We can hijack one of the trucks and drive out of here."

"Okay, but they've got a bunch of trucks, even if we get a truck they're going to be right on our asses probably with a bunch of guns." I said,

"They won't be on our asses with guns if they don't have any guns." Darcy said,

"Or if the trucks don't run properly." Thomas said,

"Ellis, can you get back in there and sabotage the trucks?" Aria asked,

"Yeah, but I'll have to do it when no one is looking."

"Max and I can break into the armory and get a shit ton of weapons, but we are going to need a distraction."

I looked over at Nick, "Nick and I will handle it."

"We will?"

"Nick, what is the one thing that we're good at?"

"Bickering with each other." Aria said,

"Exactly, Nick and I can fight about something stupid while Darcy and Max and Ellis do their things."

"Good idea guys." Jazlynn said, sitting next to us,

"Who the hell is this?" Nick asked,

"This is Jazz, she's coming with us. Jazz, this is my sister Aria, her husband Nick, Thomas, Rochelle, and Ellis."

"Wait, husband?" Darcy asked,

"Oh yeah, they got like married yesterday."

"Well why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

"Because it was a small wedding that took place behind a car...When were you going to tell me that you and Max were dating?"

"How did you know?"

"Guys... can we get back to the escape plan?" Nick said,

"Right, so to fill you in Jazz, Ellis is going to sabotage the trucks but leave us one so we can escape. Darcy and Max are going to break into the armory while Nick and I create a distraction."

"I know how to break into the armory without you guys getting caught." Jazz said,

"You can show us when we get there." Darcy said,

"Then the plan is settled, we start after dinner." Aria finalized.

Nick and I were hiding in between buildings, "How are we going to make this work?" I asked, keeping look out,

"I don't know, we gotta be convincing... How are your acting skills?"

"I'll have you know, I won the Lakeview High Best Actress award all four years of high school."

"That's not telling me much, I'm sure the voting pool wasn't that large."

"Shut the hell up Nick." I turned to him, "How are your skills?" I asked,

"I'm decent enough."

"So what's the plan smartass."

"Improvise." He patted my shoulder and walked away,

"That's not a plan dumbass!" I sighed, but if we were going to improvise, now was the time to do so. I followed after him, "What the hell is your problem?" I asked, shoving his shoulder hard enough so he spun around,

"What are you talking about?" He asked,

"You know full well what I'm talking about." I looked around and saw people looking at us.

He laughed slightly, "Whatever it is you're mad about, I didn't do it."

I saw Aria walk by, "You were sleeping with my sister this whole time!" I slapped him,

"What?!" Aria ran over, "You were cheating on me? With her?!" Nick looked genuinely concerned that Aria was here, I think she knew what was going on. The plan was falling into place, "How could you Nick! I thought you loved me!" She turned around and buried her face in her hands,

"Aria honey, it's not what you think." He put a hand on her shoulder,

"Don't pull that bullshit with us!" I said, pulling him away from Aria. He swatted me away from him, "You're an asshole!"

"Oh shut up Sophie, you're nothing but a side bitch." He smirked,

"Excuse me?! I will not be somebody's side anything!"

He smirked, "Well get used to it doll because that's all you're ever gonna be!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" I punched him in the face so hard he stumbled to the ground, "I'll show you side bitch!" I pounced on him and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. I had my hand in the air like I was about to claw him, he had a look of pure terror on his face,

"Okay break it up you two." Javier pulled me off of Nick as Aria helped him up, "What's going on here?" He asked,

"Nick's an asshole, that's what's going on!" I said, struggling to get free from his grasp,

"Wait... you and him were a thing? Damn, who haven't you slept with?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind, just get out of here and cool down. The Boss wants to speak to you anyway." He turned me around and directed me back to The Boss' office.

* * *

"Up here." Jazz said to Darcy and Max. The group looked around to make sure no one was looking before scaling the side of the armory. In the background, they could hear Sophie yelling at somebody, the two guards left to see what was going on. The three made it to the rooftop, "Over there, there is a skylight." Jazz said, hiding behind the AC duct, "We have to get over there without anyone noticing us."

Darcy looked at the sky that was darkening quickly, "We get the guns, and we wait out on the roof until it gets dark." She said. The other two nodded and they all went over to the skylight,

"I wonder what that was all about." One of the guards said down below,

"Who knows, it almost looked like a petty love affair thing."

"Probably, who knows with these crazy people."

Jazz looked at the others, "We've got to be quiet in there, we can't get caught." She moved the piece of plywood that was revealing the broken glass.

Darcy looked inside, "Max, you can lower us down using your tongue... Then we can get the guns and you can pull us out of here." He nodded and Darcy grabbed his tongue,

"That's so gross." Jazz said,

"You have any other plans?"

"No..."

"Alright then, grab on." Jazz grabbed his tongue and Max lowered them down into the armory. Darcy looked around at the crates, "What do we take?" She whispered quietly,

"They're loaded to the teeth with automatic weapons, a pistol isn't going to cut it." Jazz replied.

Darcy walked over and opened a crate, she smiled at what she saw what was inside, "Oh yeah, this will work."

Ellis finished sabotaging the trucks and snuck out of the garage, making sure no one saw him on his way in or out. He ran into Nick and Aria back behind one of the buildings, "Ellis, did you do it?" Aria asked,

"Yeah... what smells like piss?"

"Shut up Ellis." Nick said,

"Nick, why did you piss yourself?"

"Sophie went a little overboard on the distraction and scared the literal piss out of him." Aria suppressed a laugh,

"It's not funny." Nick said,

"I still think it is."

"What do we do now?" Ellis asked,

"We have to wait for Darcy and the others to get weapons." Aria said,

"Let's go, we don't want to draw any unwanted attention." Ellis said, coming out from behind the building.

* * *

Nighttime had fallen, I was looking at the blinding lights of the compound, I felt like we were in prison...Well, we were in prison. Javier and The Boss were talking next to me, "You know Sophie, I'm beginning to think you have what it takes to be a part of my council."

Javier gave him a look, "Dad, you can't be seriou-"

"Hush Javi, Sophie you have the guts and the attitude to help run things here they way they should be... Not like any of the other dumb asses around here." We started walking, The Boss in between Javier and I.

Javier sighed, "Well, dad, if you insist... I suppose."

"Oh what are you so bummed about, you'll get someone to sleep with." I said,

"Not if you're going around sleeping with everybody else too."

"Shut up, I wasn't sleeping with Nick."

"What, were you lying about it?"

"I could have been, you don't know me."

"Okay okay you two." The Boss interrupted our squabble, "Let me ask you something Sophie." We approached the edge of the compound, "Check this out." He tapped the wall with his foot.

The concrete barrier crumbled into the frozen dirt, "Your wall is a little crumbly." I noted,

"I want this fixed up but don't really have the materials to fix it, so I want you and Javier to go out tomorrow to find some stuff for a patch job."

"Yeah sure." We turned and started heading back.

We were in the middle of the compound when we heard a gunshot from behind us. We turned around and saw Darcy, Max and Jazz standing next to each other, "Listen here, we are either leaving here the easy way or the hard way." Darcy said,

"Darcy, what the hell?!" I facepalmed, I didn't plan on her going about it like this.

The Boss laughed, "Just what in the hell do you think you are doing missy?" She shot at him, "What the shit?!" He asked, "In case you hadn't noticed, you're a little outnumbered." He said,

"Maybe so, but you are outgunned." She pulled a rocket launcher off of her back,

"Darcy!" She fired a rocket at the building behind us. We dove out of the way as the building exploded, from inside, zombies started walking out of the hole in the side of the building.


	8. Chapter 8

**well, this chapter was supposed to be up yesterday but FanFiction was acting up so it's going up today. I want to welcome my new kitten/christmas present to the family, his name is Loki, and he is the best cat ever, I love him already! 3 Believe me when I say that his name suits him well too.**

 **Enough dilly dallying, lets continue this story huh?**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Chapter 8: Escape of the Fallen**

My ears were ringing from the explosion, I was disoriented and couldn't hear what was going on. I looked up and saw people panicking everywhere, Javier and the Boss were nowhere to be seen. Somebody picked me up, "Soph!" It was Nick,

"We have to get out of here, now!" I exclaimed.

He nodded and took me out of the line of fire where Ellis was, "Soph are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, where are the others?"

"We have to make our way to the garage, that's where Aria, Thomas and Rochelle went." Nick said,

"What about Darcy, Max and Jazz?"

"They'll have to join up with us. Come on." Nick, Ellis and I left our cover. There were gunshots everywhere, "Why did they have a building full of zombies anyway?" Nick asked,

"I don't know, these people are batshit crazy!" Ellis led us to the garage where the truck was driving out, Aria was in the driver's seat, Rochelle in the passenger. Thomas was outside shooting at any opposing force coming towards them,

"Guys! Get in the back!" Aria shouted,

"What about Darcy?!"

"There's no time!" I looked around for her, "Sophie, we gotta go." Ellis said.

I looked at him and sighed, "You're right..." I picked him up and threw him in the back of the truck, "But that doesn't mean I have to listen to you." I ran off to find Darcy,

"Sophia!" I heard Ellis call from behind me, but I didn't look back.

"Soph!" I heard Jazz call from behind the building,

"Jazz, did you know about that building having zombies in it?" I crouched behind the building with her,

"Yeah, that's where he first locked me up when I was first brought here. I shouldn't have said anything about it to Darcy, I'm sorry Soph!"

"No, no Jazz it's okay, where are Darcy and Max?"

"Eat lead mother fuckers!" I heard gunshots,

"Over there." We peeked around the building.

Darcy was firing an AK at some guards that ran at her, Max pulled a pin out of a grenade and chucked it, "Holy shit..." There was an explosion, "Stay here." I said and ran out, "Darcy... Darcy!" I grabbed her arm,

"Huh... What?"

"Can you take a break from going kamikaze for one second for us to get the hell out of here?!"

"Uh... Yeah, sorry."

"Max, put the grenade down and let's go." He nodded and pulled the pin from the grenade, throwing it, "I said put it down, not throw it." He shrugged, "Jazz! Come on!" We headed towards the others. I was running toward the truck when I felt a searing sensation in my leg, and face planted into the hard dirt, "Aah!" I looked and noticed a bullet wound in my leg,

"Soph!" Darcy turned to come back to me,

"Did you guys really think you would get away so easily?" The Boss was standing there with a gun in his hand, Javier was next to him, "I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill all your little friends, and you're going to sit back and watch it all happen Sophia." He laughed maniacally, "And I'll start with you." He pointed his gun at Darcy.

She pointed her gun at him, "Don't count on it buddy." She growled.

Javier lunged at her and pinned her to the ground, "Darcy!" I went to get up,

"Don't. Move." The Boss said, pointing his gun at me, "Don't make me do anything I don't want to do Soph, I still like you." I heard a growling sound, it was coming from behind the Boss.

Javier noticed it too, "Dad, the horde."

The Boss turned around and noticed they weren't far behind him, "You..." He growled at Darcy, "You let out my pets, you destroyed my compound, and you stole my weapons. Say goodbye to your friend Sophie, she will be the first to go." '

"No!" I heard a gunshot and closed my eyes,

"No!" I heard Javier exclaim. I opened my eyes and saw the Boss had bullet holes in him, his body fell to the ground, "Dad!" He ran over to the body,

"You made a big mistake in betraying us." I turned and saw Thomas had a shotgun pointed at Javier, he pulled the trigger and Javier's head was no more. A pool of blood spread on the ground where the two bodies were, it definitely got the attention of the zombies.

Thomas helped me up, "We have to get out of here!" I said,

"That's the plan." I wrapped my arm over his shoulder and he helped me over to the truck.

The horde was right on our tails, "Thomas, we aren't going to make it." I said, there were gunshots coming from the others, they were trying to hold off the zombies,

"There's too many of them!" Aria said,

"Start driving!" I said, "Thomas, we're going to have to outrun the horde."

"There's no way we can outrun them, not with you being hurt. I have a better plan."

"What?!"

He scooped me up, "Sorry Soph."

"Thomas what are you-" He threw me into the back of the truck. I quickly got up, "Thomas!" The horde of zombies was around him, it was awful, hearing his screams, but there was nothing I could do for him, it was too late. Aria sped away from the compound, I was sitting on my knees crying for my lost friends.

Ellis knelt down next to me and wrapped me in a hug, "Soph..."

"Ellis, I should have saved him! I'm such a horrible person!" I cried,

"There was nothing you could have done, he gave his life to save ours." Nick said, "There wasn't anything any of us could have done." I looked at Nick, then back at Ellis. He wiped the tears from my cheeks and kissed me on the forehead, I sighed sadly and closed my eyes.

The morning sun shone over the horizon, we were still not at the highway yet, the compound was way out of the way from our destination. I sat on the edge of the truck, my legs dangling over the edge. I looked down at the bullet hole in my leg, it hurt, but it wasn't the most painful thing I had experienced. Jazz sat down next to me, she was the only other person awake besides Rochelle who was driving, "Hey..." She said,

"Hey." I said, not looking at her,

"You know, I did end up finally finding my family."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, that's how I ended up at that horrible place, I was trying to get them to safety, like you are, but he ended up killing my family and keeping me hostage..." She sighed, "My mom and brother didn't deserve to die the way they did, but I couldn't stop that jerk from doing it." She looked down at the dirt road,

"I get what you're trying to do." I said, "You're trying to say that I shouldn't blame myself for Thomas' death because it wasn't my fault and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Well you're wrong, I could have prevented it, I could have prevented all of this! If I would have just let Bianca kill me all those years ago, maybe everybody would be alive."

"You don't know that. Who's to say that your friends wouldn't have been killed without you?"

I sighed, "I don't know."

She turned around and looked at the others, "You still have people here who aren't dead, I know you're upset about everything that had happened but you should focus on what you have here."

I sighed, I hated it when other people were right, why couldn't they just let me sulk around in grief for a few days? I looked at her, "I hate it when you make me a point."

"I know." She smirked.

Snow started to fall by the time we got back to the highway, we pulled off to the side of the road and stopped, "What are we going to do now?" Aria asked as we all got out of the truck.

Rochelle looked at our group, "We go to Salt Lake City." She said,

I picked up a stick off the ground, "I've got an idea." I gathered a few more sticks and tied two of the sticks together, then the other two. I stuck the two creations into the ground, "There." The others looked at the two crosses erecting from the dirt, "They may not have been buried, but they are at peace now..." I said, Ellis grabbed my hand. We stood in silence as we paid our respects for our fallen friends. The snow fell gently from the sky and covered the ground in a thin blanket.

The wind blew gently, making the others shiver, Rochelle sighed, "We better go."

"I'll drive." Ellis said, climbing into the driver's seat, I took passenger. As Ellis drove away I looked at the crosses disappear in the mirror, I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked at the road ahead.

 _I heard crying, it was a woman, Gina was crying. We were on the boat, on our way to New Orleans, I knocked on the door, "Gina? You okay?" There was a pause, "I'm okay, you can come in." I opened the door and entered the room. She was sitting on the bed wiping her eyes, "What happen? Did Thomas say something to you? Am I going to have to beat him up?" She sniffled and laughed a little, "No, Thomas didn't say anything, I don't know, I guess it's just the pregnancy hormones acting up, you know." I sat next to her on the bed, "Yeah...Or, maybe I will know." I shrugged, "I guess it's just bothering me that I'll be raising a child in this hellish world, I didn't plan on it, but I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant. Thomas and I were trying for years to have a child but we had troubles. I guess I may have been a bit jealous when you got pregnant so quickly... But that was probably the hormones as well." I laughed, "I didn't know it was so hard for you guys." She shrugged, "I thought our marriage was going to fall apart because of it, I was so afraid of it." "You guys are like, the perfect couple, I've never seen you guys argue since I've met you." "Yeah, well you can't really argue when you're trying to stay alive." I nodded, "I guess when my baby comes along, I'll know the same feelings you do." I gave her a hug._

I sat up in the truck, how did I not remember it before, I used to be pregnant. I remember now that I lost the baby when I was bitten, but why did nobody tell me? Ellis looked at me, "You okay?"

"Uh... Yeah... I have a question for you."

"What's your question?"

"Why didn't you tell me that I was pregnant?" He was staring at the road, he was avoiding eye contact with me. He didn't say anything to me, "Ellis, why didn't you tell me?"

He sighed, "I didn't tell you because Darcy told us not to say anything."

"Darcy?" Of course she wouldn't say anything to me, I knew that she thought I was "mentally unstable" I was not! I was perfectly fine with everything now, she was just being an idiot. I rolled my eyes, "You know, you could have said something to me."

"I didn't because Darcy told me not to."

"Well Darcy is an idiot and doesn't know what she's talking about half the time."

There was a pause, "How did you figure it out anyway?"

"Because, ever since I've been around you guys I've been remembering so much more than before, I don't know, it's weird." He didn't say anything, just kept his eyes on the road, "Look, I'm not mad at you for not telling me, I just wanted to know why."

"Well I just told you why, I don't want to talk about it anymore." He finalized.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the window, "Fine, sorry." I muttered.

We passed a sign directing us to Salt Lake City, "According to the map, the evac center is at Antelope State Park, here." I pointed to the map, showing him where to go,

"Alright." He nodded and took a left onto another road, getting off of the expressway. I sighed and sat folded up the map. It was another bittersweet moment, the realization that this would be it, the last time I would probably see my family again. I held back tears but that was all I could think in my mind as we inched closer to the evac center. Ellis pulled into a driveway to a golf course and stopped the truck, neither of us saying anything as we got out.

Everyone grouped together in the parking lot of the golf course, "So..." Darcy said, "This is it huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." Aria said. I looked down the road, it was blocked off with what looked like military personnel guarding it.

I turned back towards the others, "At least this time the people are there, and you know, not dead." Aria nodded, "This is the end of our tour." I said,

"Thanks, for coming with us." Rochelle said, "Who knows where we would have been without you guys."

"It's no big deal, we're always glad to help." I smiled slightly and gave Rochelle a hug, "I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Don't worry about us, we'll be okay." Aria said.

I gave her a hug too, "I love you sis." I said and then looked at Nick,

"Don't even think about it." He said,

I smirked and squeezed him in a hug, "You're part of the family now... and I'm sorry I made you piss your pants."

"Gee... thanks." He said, but wrapped me in a hug as well, "As much as I'm gonna hate to admit it, I'm gonna miss you too Soph."

"Thanks Nick." I turned and looked at Ellis, he was looking away from me. The others backed off to give us some space, "Ellis?" I asked,

"Soph... I can't..."

I wrapped him in a hug, "C'mon, this isn't goodbye. I'm sure we'll see each other again, it happened before and I'm sure it will happen again." I took off his hat and ruffled his hair.

He smiled and kissed me, "I love you."

"I'll always love you." I said to him and went to hand him his hat back.

He took it and sat it on my head, "Keep it, just in case you forget about me, it looks better on you anyway." He chuckled.

I turned the hat backwards to I could see him,

"How could I ever forget a man like you?" He shrugged, "I have been known to be pretty unforgettable."

I laughed and shook my head, "You're such a dork."

"Yeah but you're into dorks."

I kissed him, "You're right. They totally turn me on."

"Guys, we better get going soon." Rochelle said.

Ellis and I looked back at each other, "I'm gonna miss you." He said,

"Well if you do, just know I'll be closer than you think." He wiped a tear from my cheek and kissed me again.

Darcy, Max, Jazz and I watched the van drive off towards the evac center. I looked down at the hat in my hands, it was a faded blue trucker hat, the same one he always wore since the day I first met him. I smiled and put the hat on my head then turned towards the others, "Well guys, we have all the time in the world to do whatever the hell we want. What should we do next?"

Darcy picked a piece of paper off of the sign to the golf course, "Well, anyone want to do a road trip? I hear LA is nice this time of year."

I walked over and looked at the paper in her hands, "Alright, lets go on a road trip." I smirked,

"Only if we get to go to Vegas." Darcy said,

"We can stop on the way, see what it has to offer." I said, walking back towards the city.


	9. Epilogue

**I cant believe this is the end, it almost brings a tear to my eye... almost. I have another story that I will probably update next week, so see everyone next year!  
** **  
Enjoy!** **  
**

 **~ZombiesXBrainzz~**

 **Epilogue: New Beginnings**

I listened to the sounds of the ocean as I sat my ass in the burning sand, about six months had passed since I had seen everybody, I knew they were safe, I wasn't worried. Darcy and Max were creating sand fortresses down by the water with Jazz, I smiled at them. It was almost like looking at a family at the beach, a common shuffled by, right through their creation, "What the hell?!" Darcy got up and grabbed the zombie, throwing him out into the ocean.

Jazz laughed, "A little over reacting aren't you Darcy?"

"You know how long it took us to make this?"

Jazz shrugged and got up, "I'm hungry, let's go hunt."

"Good idea." I shook the sand off of my legs and shorts, sure the forests were a little ways away, but it was definitely worth the hunt.

That night we arrived back at our self acclaimed beach home, it was definitely nicer than the ratty old shack in Colorado, and it had a view. I stood on the deck admiring the sunset over the beach, Darcy stood next to me, "Kinda reminds you of Florida huh?"

"Nah, I think I like California a lot better." I said, leaning on the railing,

"You're just high maintenance." She said,

"Well, do you miss Florida?"

"Hmm..." She thought about it, "No, I guess not... I don't really have anything there for me anymore."

"You and me both." She sighed, "At least you have Max."

"Yeah, but sometimes I wish he could talk, it gets boring responding to nods and shrugs you know."

I laughed and stood up straight, "I think you two are perfect together." I patted her shoulder and headed inside. I went upstairs to head to my room when I heard music from Jazz's room, I stopped to listen in. She was listening to classical instrumental music, I didn't recognize the piece, but it was pleasant to hear. I headed down the hallway to my room, leaving a trail of clothes on the floor once I got inside. I grabbed a book and laid on my bed, reading the book until I slowly fell asleep.

The sound of loud engines woke me from my sleep, I got up and looked out the window. Military vehicles were driving on the road but there were only two of them. Darcy walked into my room, "What the hell is going on?" She asked, approaching the window,

"I don't know, but there are military vehicles outside."

She leaned over my shoulder to have a look, "Why would they be out here?"

I shrugged, "Maybe they hid something out here or something." We continued watching the vehicles. Military personnel got out of the vehicles and a group of them approached our house, a woman seemed to be leading them, "Oh shit they're coming this way!" I said,

"They're going to kill us!" Darcy said,

"We'll pretend to be humans, and see what they want then send them on their way."

"That wont work."

"Do you have a plan?"

"No."

"Then come on." We headed downstairs. They were knocking on the door by the time we got downstairs, I approached the door and opened it, "Can I help you."

"Sophia Vanderbilt?" The woman asked,

"How do you know my name?"

"You may not remember me but I'm Dr. Shelly Andrews, I was the doctor who was there at the Denver evacuation zone when you were bitten."

"Oh, yeah, you were one of them that sat behind the glass and smirked as I laid in the room dying in agonizing pain, yeah, I remember you." She stood there for a minute as if she didn't know what to say next. I sighed, "Look, are you just going to stand there? I was sleeping before you guys so rudely woke me up."

"Right, um, since the day you had left our lab we have been following your movement."

"My movement, how?"

"We put a tracking device inside you when you were last at our facility."

"Why?"

"When you showed up to our facility we were close to a breakthrough on a cure to get all of the sick people back to normal, the people like you and your friends. We were close but we were still working out some bugs, we believe we have found it and we wanted to ask if you and your friends would like to be the first volunteers to try our cure."

I turned around and saw Jazz and Max at the top of the staircase. My gaze then fell to Darcy, "Guys?"

"How do we know we can trust you? How do we not know you're not trying to kill us?" Darcy asked,

"We've had every opportunity to kill you, we wouldn't have wasted the time and resources on you if we were going to kill you."

"Guys." Jazz came down the stairs, "We should try it." She said,

"Jazz..." Darcy said,

"Think about it Darce, the chance of a lifetime to go back to being normal, like none of this ever happened."

"But it did happen, we can't just sell ourselves for the chance of something that might work. I don't think it's a good idea."

"Jazz is right, you might not want to do it, but I do."

Darcy looked at Max, "Max?" He looked Jazz and pointed at her, nodding. Darcy sighed, she knew she was outnumbered on this decision, she was letting her trust issues get in the way,

"Fine, take us to your base then."

We were strapped down to a table in the lab, "We are going to put you out for a bit for this procedure okay?" Dr. Andrews said to us,

"You got it." I looked at Darcy, "It'll be okay Darce, don't worry." I smiled,

"Shut up, I am going to worry." She said looking away from me.

I smirked, "When this works, I'm so gonna rub it in."

"Ditto if it doesn't."

"Okay Sophia, just relax, I'm just going to put the IV in." Dr. Andrews stuck the needle in my arm. I could feel myself relaxing, and then I slowly slipped into a deep sleep.

 _I ran through the partially burning hotel, on my way to being evacuated from the world that was literally hell. Zombies came and I tended to kill them with the katana I found. I was alone in a world that you shouldn't be alone in, where it's kill or be killed, and I did not want to be killed. At about the third floor from the rooftop I heard some gunshots and people shooting, instinctively I ducked behind a wall which didn't help much because there was an open area, and zombies were looking at me..._

 _I sliced through them like butter, there was a screeching noise and I quickly turned to see a special infected flying at me, I dodged it and sent it flying out the window. The gunshots and voices got louder, I watched as the zombies ran past me down a hallway towards the gunshots, "Agh, what the hell?!" A southern males voice exclaimed. Cautiously and curiously I poked around the corner to see what was going on, there was a group of zombies surrounding someone. There were three others helping the one being attacked, one zombie with a large arm burst through the door and charged at a man in a suit. Without thinking I pulled out my machete and threw it at the large zombie, it lodged in the zombies back and the zombie fell dead. I quickly ran over and pulled the knife out of the re-dead zombie, after I retrieved my weapon I pulled out my shotgun and pointed it at the people, four other survivors..._

I woke up, the fluorescent lights blinding me and giving me a headache, I groaned and turned my head. Next to me I could hear a beeping noise, one that you'd hear in a hospital, a heart rate monitor. I went to sit up but I was still strapped down to the table, "Sophia you're awake." Dr. Andrews said,

"Did it work?" I asked,

"Yes, you and your friends appear to have accepted the cure and we are keeping you here in case something changes, but by the looks of it, I think you are all back to normal." I looked at Darcy who was not conscious yet, but Jazz was,

"Isn't this great Soph?" She asked from the table next to me, "See, I told Darcy this was a good idea."

"Ugh... Where am I?" A males voice asked, "Am I in a hospital?"

"Holy shit Max, you can finally speak!" I laughed,

"Sophia, is that you?" He spoke with a sort of accent, like someone from either northern states, or from Canada,

"Yeah Max it's me, I'm just not used to you having a voice though."

Darcy's eyes shot open, "Where am I?" She looked at me, "Are we dead?"

I smirked, "Hey Darce, I have four words for you... I told you so, I told you so!" I gloated,

"Oh shut up."

"You should listen to Sophie more." Max said.

Darcy turned her head towards Max, "Shit, you do have a voice box."

"I never said that I didn't."

"You never said anything." Darcy said, "And personally, I preferred it that way."

I laughed, "Better get used to it Darce, you chose him."

"Yeah, I guess I did." She sighed.

We stayed in the lab for a few days under constant watch from the military, it wasn't boring though, we had books and games to keep us entertained while we were being held captive. I was sitting in a chair by myself, looking at the bandage on my leg. I couldn't stop thinking about the people we lost on our journey here, not just Coach and Thomas, but all of our families and friends that didn't stand a chance. I wasn't sure what was waiting for me on the other side, Aria and Nick could have been dead for all I knew, same with Ellis. Darcy walked up to me, "I miss them you know." I looked up at her, she sat in the chair, "I always thought to myself, if I had the chance to do it all over again, I don't think I would want to kill my family again."

"You may not have your biological family, but you have us, and you've got Max."

Darcy shrugged, "It's just hard to forget what I did."

"At least they didn't leave you at school to fend for yourself. Never in my life would I ever believe that I would end up being close to Aria. She used to be a horrible human being, but now she's the only real family I have left... If she's even alive."

"Why wouldn't she be alive?"

I shrugged, "You never know."

Dr. Andrews came into the room, "We are letting you guys go, the cure seems to be working and we are impressed with the results."

"Well so are we." I smiled at Darcy.

* * *

Aria was working at her cafe with Nick, it was what she always wanted, a business of her own. She was now five months pregnant with twin boys and she thought she couldn't have been happier with her life, but she was wrong. Aria was wiping off the counter while Nick was checking the register when a woman walked in. She was wearing thick framed glasses and she had short dark hair, "Excuse me, are you Aria?" She asked,

"Depends on who's asking."

"I'm Dr. Andrews from the labs here on base and I believe we have something you will probably want.

Aria couldn't believe it, her sister was alive, actually alive as a human and not a zombie it was unreal. Nick had told Aria that he didn't believe it, but she was adamant, and he felt she was going to be let down. The couple walked into the facility where they were told to go, they were in a lobby area with a large wooden desk but no one was sitting behind it, "Aria, I think this is a bad idea." Nick said,

"I don't care what you think Nick, why would they make up something like this."

He shrugged, "I just don't want to see you get disappointed."

"I'm not going to get disappointed." She said. A few minutes passed before the doors in front of them opened and standing there was a girl. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, she had porcelain skin but Aria recognized her as the sister she grew up with. Aria ran and wrapped her sister in her arms, "I knew they weren't lying to me!" Aria said,

"Why would they have lied to you?"

The two sisters looked at Nick, "Hey, I've been wrong before." Sophie wrapped Nick in a hug, "I'm glad you're back to your old self. I really did miss you." He hugged her back,

"Thanks Nick." Sophie smiled.

 ***One Year Later***

Ellis had lost touch with this friends since they had been rescued a year and a half ago. He got a job travelling around the state working on different military vehicles, he enjoyed it, it got his mind off of certain things and people. He drove into Los Angeles on his way to Pasadena, but he figured he make a stop first at a popular local cafe, after all, it was early in the morning and he didn't want to skip breakfast. He parked his car in the parking lot and sighed, he had wondered what Aria and Nick had been up to, last Ellis knew Aria was pregnant, but she obviously would have had the baby by now. He got out of the car and approached the building, it was empty inside but it was barely past opening. On the menu were assorted types of breakfast sandwiches and hot beverages, in the display case were donuts and muffins. Ellis never took Aria for much of a business woman, but people were known to be full of surprises. He rang the service bell on the counter and waited, "I want to try out this new recipe but I don't know how it will sell..." He heard someone said from the back, probably Aria, "Hey, can you get that?" She asked someone, probably Nick.

Ellis looked down at the assorted donuts in the display, deciding on which one he wanted. He heard footsteps approach the counter, "Can I help you?" The girl asked,

"Yeah, I'll take a-" He cut off his sentence when he looked up at the girl. She looked about 20 years old, with tanned skin but what caught her attention was her face. The girl had beautiful blue eyes and her hair was a sky blue color that was pulled into pigtails sitting on top of her shoulders. On the top of her head was a faded blue trucker hat, a familiar hat to Ellis, the hat he gave to Sophie.

She gave him a kind smile, "Hey." She said, Ellis was speechless. He wasn't sure if this was a dream or not, Sophie was here, and she was alive and not a zombie.

Ellis blinked a few times, "Hey." He found himself smiling, and to him it had felt like he was meeting Sophie for the first time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, hope everyone is enjoying their 2018, just wanted everyone to know that there is a new story up, its Aria's story so you get to see her journey on the way to finding her sister, its a good one, I like it and I can only hope you guys do too. Also I want to mention that there is one more chapter coming up on this story, its like just a little bonus thing that I thought of when I was rereading the Left 4 Dead comics, so look forward to that when it comes, it will probably be later though**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~ZombiesXBrianzz~**


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